Limerence
by DYNOMITE
Summary: Batman & Joker were the greatest enemies of all time, now the city belongs to their kids. But what happens when these two born to be enemies become more than that? And what's with this new villainous group & their plans for Jack? Marked lemon in chap 9
1. BD and Jack

I do not own any versions of the Batman universe. The only thing I _do_ own is this story and my two characters……and three dogs…BUT WE'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT THEM! So get ready cuz this story frickin ROX!! And that not just bias talking!!

The story is called "Limerence" and that means involuntary cognitive and emotional state in which a person feels an intense romantic desire for another person.

One more thing, if you would like to see what my characters look like, go to look up the user Kibaslilwolf, go to my album, click on the link that says OCs, then click on the one that says Batman OCs.

Now…ON WITH THE STORY!!!

**Chapter 1: BD and Jack**

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The cool night wind blew across the museum roof, filling the sky with pink and black stripped hair. The young teenager sat with her eyes to the heavens, taking in their magnificence and peacefulness. "They're so beautiful." She said, sounding memorized in a way.

"What are?"

"The stars." The other teen, his back to hers, looked up at the sky and rolled his eyes.

"You can't even see them. You can barely see the frickin moon, city's too damn bright."

"Yeah, but you know they're there and you know they're beautiful."

"………riiiiight. Okay, I _would_ say you need to get out more, but maybe you should stay in for a while, watch some TV……or something." He pushed a lock of green and black hair from his face and yawned. They sat in silence like they'd been doing for the past three hours. With every passing minute the aggravation in the air grew thicker.

"You know you gotta let go sometime, Jack."

"Or you could let go, _Plio_."

"Damnit, Jack, it's 2:30 in the fucking morning! I wanna go home!"

"Then let go." He stated very matter-of-factly. She leaned her head on the back of his shoulder and grunted,

"How long we gonna keep this up?"

"What?"

"_This._ We've been doing this since we were five years old!"

_**::Twelve years ago::**_

"Give it!"

"No, you give it!"

"No, you!"

"No, you!" The two five year olds wrestled and rolled on the bank floor, both refusing to release the relatively large diamond.

"It's mine!" Shouted the little boy.

"Not its not!" Screamed the little girl.

"Yes it is! I have to steal it!"

"And I have to save it!"

"You can't save a diamond!"

"Yes I can!"

"No you can't!"

"Yes I can!"

"No you can't!"

_One hour later…_

"We should probably wake them up, but they're soooo cu-ute!" spoke a female voice.

"I know, they really are." Said another female voice. The two older women stood at the door with their eyes on the small children passed out on the floor, their hands still on the rock. "Aright, Harl, we best get them home." Selena made her way to the sleeping toddlers and pried their hands off the precious jewel.

"What should we do with it?" Harleen asked.

"I'll just put it back, save us some time and trouble." She replied and put the diamond back in its rightful place. Then, with their children in their arms, the two mothers parted ways.

_**::Present day::**_

"Oh yeah, I remember that. It was the first time we met, and boy were you a persistent little_ crapper_." Jack half laughed.

"Yeah, but I still won that fight." She retorted.

"Only cuz we fell asleep and our moms didn't feel like getting into it."

"That's stupid."

"You're stupid."

"You're stupid!"

"Go to hell!"

"You first." Again they sat in silence, scowling at each other.

"………I woulda kicked your ass back then." Jack finally said.

"Oh whatever."

"You know it's true. It's not my fault your mom wouldn't let you ever get in a real fight. I guess she didn't care much about your dignity." He alleged with a bit of amusement.

"Oh, yeah, and this coming from a guy whose parents named him, Jackendaboks." That struck a nerve.

"Yeah? Well, what kind of a name is _Plio_? Huh?" He grinned, showing his lightly yellow tinted teeth; she could here the enjoyment of her annoyance in his voice. "I guess they somehow knew their little girl would someday grow up to 'pli'se a lot of men." The young girl spun around and punched him in his pure white arm.

"Take that back!" She shouted.

"Make. Me." He uttered through a smirk, getting in her face. Oh, how she couldn't stand him, him and that stupid smirk.

"At least I can get a guy." She threw back, matching his smirk and getting in his face.

"So can I……wait……DAMNIT!"

"HA! I win!"

"Oooo….I can't STAND you!"

"Don't be hatin'."

"Screw you."

"Screw you sideways. Now let go so we can go home." She said, pulling on the gold and diamond covered stick thing.

"The hell I will, you let go."

"No, you let go."

"Ha, no, you let go."

"Grow up and let go!"

"You!"

_Hour and a half later_

"Seriously, Harley, don't they know they're getting a _little_ old for this?"

"I hear ya." The two mothers stared down at their sleeping teenagers, the golden stick thing still in their hands.

_x_X_x_

"Damn, I really hate him." Plio walked out of her history class after taking a test she knew she failed. "He's always doing this to me." She muttered to herself.

"Who?" Plio, so wrapped up in her thoughts, hadn't noticed that her friend, Bre, was walking beside her and jumped when she heard her voice.

"Jeez, Bre, you scared the hell out of me. I didn't her come up."

"Sorry, but who were you talking about? You said '_He's always doing this to me._'"

"Uh…" she had to think of something fast and pray that her friend would buy it.

":gasp: Are you secretly dating someone?!" She squealed in excitement. "Oh, I wanna meet him! Is he nice? I bet he's smoking hot—" Plio smacked her hand over her friend's mouth to shut her up.

"No, Bre, I'm not dating anyone. My dad had me up last night finishing some stupid homework."

"Oh…" Bre's voice **screamed** disappointment.

"What's with everyone and wanting me to date so fucking badly? I'll date when I find someone I frickin' like."

"Well, you're always so busy, how can you find someone?" Plio looked down at her feet; she knew Bre was right and she hated it.

"Look, I'll catch you later. Gotta hurry and get home."

"Okay, see-ya later, Plio."

"Bye." They waved and went their separate ways. Plio was so glad it was time to go home. Her entire day had been such a drag. She had gotten yelled at in every class for sleeping, and in one class, she actually fell out of her chair. How she hated that bastard, Jack.

She walked down the busy streets of Gotham City, enjoying the time to herself. She had grown loved the sounds of the city, they somehow calmed her nerves…well, not all of them.

"Hey, Plio!"

"Oh my god, go away." The green and black haired teen stepped out from on of the alleys and began walking next his so called enemy, irritating the crap out of her.

"Why?"

"Because I don't like you."

"Well that hurts."

"And what the hell are you wearing?" She asked, taking notice to the long, ugly, brown trench coat with a hood that had some kind of retarded design on it and a pair of old brown gloves.

"See, unlike you, I can't just put on a wig and be on my way." He answered and patted the top of her long black wig.

"Quit!" She slapped his hand away and readjusted her 'hair.' "Now, seriously, go away. I don't want people thinking that I'm affiliated with you.

"Nobody's gonna know it's me. I'm '_incognito_.'" He stated, stepping in front of her and holding out his arms so she could properly see is 'clever' disguise.

"No one is dumb enough to fall for that."

"Wanna bet?" He looked around, search for something that could prove his disguise was a good one. "Ah-Ha! Hold on, watch." Plio, a little annoyed, crossed her arms and watched like she was told. Jack casually strolled up to a hot dog stand, asked for a hot dog, received said hot dog, and strolled back to his dumbfounded counterpart. "Told ya."

"Errr! Damn you piss me off!" She shouted in frustration and began to storm off.

"Why? What'd I do?" He questioned, his mouth full of food, running after her.

"You just fucking, irritate me! Oh, and thanks to you, I probably failed my history test today!"

"How is **that **_my_ fault?"

"You kept me out so late last night, I could barely stay awake to take the damn thing." Jack finished his hot dog with a smack of his lips and placed his hands on the back of his head.

"Not my fault, you could've let go—AH!" Without warning, Plio pushed her nemesis as hard as she could into another alley and onto a huge pile of trash, and, without a second look, she walked on, a smile plastered on her face and a giggle escaping her lips.

Jack, struggling to get up and out of the bags of garbage, started to pick banana peels, dirty napkins, and other unidentifiable objects of his coat with a scowl. "Frickin' disgusting." He looked up just in time to see the youngest Wayne disappear around the corner across the street and grinned the famous 'Joker' grin.

_x_X_x_

"**MOM!**" Plio dropped her book bag at the front door of their mansion. She sighed at the memory of their beloved butler, their friend, Alfred, and how he used to be there waiting for her when she got home. She missed him so much. "MOM!"

"What is it, honey?!" Her mom called back from somewhere upstairs.

"I hate my life and I'm gonna drop out of school! Become a hobo!"

"You do that! Just remember that dinner's at six!"

"Ugh." Annoyed and tired, Plio stomped up the ridiculously big staircase and to her room where a well deserved nap awaited her arrival with open arms. With the shut of the door, she was on her soft bed, sleep beginning to take over. "Nobody knows what it's like to be me." She muttered to herself.

"I do." Came the all too familiar voice. Plio buried her face in her big pillow and began to scream muffled words one could only guess were profanities. "You okay, BD?" She sat up and glared at him like no tomorrow and he just sat there on the window ceil with that stupid grin.

"Why are you _**here**_?"

"I thoroughly enjoy annoying the hell out of you."

"You do know how dead you would be if my dad found out you know where we live, let alone, know who we are, right?"

"Uh………really dead?"

"Yeah…Jack……really dead." She rolled her eyes and laid back down, her back to the jerk in the window.

"Well, you don't have to worry. I'm not gonna tell my parents. They don't deserve to know if they haven't been able to figure it out on their own by now."

"Um…thanks…I guess."

"No prob. Hey, you seen the newspaper today? You made the front page…again."

"Are you serious?!" She exclaimed as she jumped up and grabbed the paper from his hands.

"Yeah, but you reeeeally gotta think of a name other than 'BD.'"

"What's wrong with 'BD?'" She asked, still looking at the paper.

"It stands for 'Batman's Daughter.'"

"……………so…"

"So think of something new. How 'bout 'Pinkass Bitch?'" He suggested with a smile that reached from ear to ear.

"Screw you."

"Screw you sideways."

"Plio!" They froze. "Plio!" Bruce Wayne's deep voice rang throughout the entire mansion. Plio sprang from her bed, shoving the paper into Jack's chest, and ran to the door.

"Just a sec!" She called out, then spun around to the window, "Alright you gotta—Jack?" He was gone. "Damn, that boy is creepy."

"**Plio!**"

"Coming, dad!"

_x_X_x_

"Oh, you're home, sweetie!"

"Hey, mom." Jack walked into his 'happy little home' at the old carnival sight and took a seat by his 'always happy' mom on the couch. "Where's dad?"

"Oh, know him, always busy." '_The world's greatest dad._' He thought to himself. He hated that stupid sorry excuse of a man and tried to avoid him at all times. "So what were you up to today?"

"Nuin really, just breaking the law."

"Oh you always say that. Where you with a girl?" She asked with a wink. His mom loved to try and pry into his life. It's not that he hated talking to her; he just liked to keep to himself. Jack was never really one to share his feelings with anybody.

"What kind of a girl would I date, mom? I can't exactly date a good, law-binding girl and the number of villains, of both sexes, has dramatically decreased by a **lot** since your time."

"My time? You make me sound so old." Her son smiled and laughed.

"No, mom, you're not old and no, I'm not dating anyone." Harleen watched her only child with sadness. His life hadn't necessary been very fair for him.

"I couldn't be more proud of you when I see you breaking the law, but I feel that you completely missed out on your best years. And I feel that it is my fault."

Jack kept his eyes on the television set, not wanting to look his mother in the face, knowing deep down that she was right. "No. Mom. It's not your fault. I'm just not a very social kind of kid." He smiled to re-ensure her.

"Jackendaboks, I'm serious."

"So am I don't ever call me that."

"Why not? It's your name, sweetie." Jack sunk back into the couch and covered his face with his hands.

"Don't remind me." He muttered through his fingers.

"Just promise me, _Jack_, that you'll go out his weekend and have a good time like a normal teenager. You're seventeen years old; you deserve to have some fun other than breaking the law.

"Sure, maybe I can go to the skate park and hang with the other 'white' kids, only problem is, is that I'm the only one who's actually **WHITE**."

"Urrgh!" Harley Quinn got up and stormed out of the room, muttering something about 'stupid teenagers' and 'smartasses.'

Jack sprawled out on the big couch, ready to catch some quick shut eye before supper, when his mother called out from the kitchen, "Maybe you and BD can try dating!" His eyes snapped open.

"**WHAT?!?!**"

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Okay, so, I hoped you liked it. I thought it up only last weekend and hear we are. I am on a roll with this story. :-) GO ME!

And I put together a "soundtrack" for this story, so if you want to hear it, let me know.

Now go and review!...please….YOU ROCK! And no flames please, they tend to bring me down :-(

Til next time….BYE!


	2. Don't Piss Off Jack

Here you are people!! Chapter 2 of the greatest Batman story ever, _Limerence_!! Now I'll warn you that it gets a little edgy but not too bad. I hope you enjoy it!

Now on with chapter 2!!

**Chapter 2: Don't Piss Off Jack**

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"He's really nice, P. and you should really consider going out with him." Charlie said to her long time friend as they walked into one of the main stores of Gotham City.

"So."

"So go out with him." Bre, her other friend, pressed on.

"No."

"Why?" They asked in unison.

"Because……a lot of nice guys are psychotic." '_Trust me._' The truth was, the only guy she ever hung out with was Jack, so she didn't necessarily know how to act around a 'normal' boy. The thought of it made her cringe a little.

"C'mon, Andrew Moneyworks is an awesome guy." Charlie reinsured her.

"He's a rich stiff."

"He is _not_."

"His last name is '_Moneyworks_,' that **screams** 'rich stiff' to me."

"You can't judge someone by their last name!" Bre exclaimed in her high-ish voice with her hands on her hips. "That's mean and wrong, and you know it!"

"Alright! Fine! I'll frickin go with the guy!! You happy?!" Plio shouted, throwing her hands up in the air in defeat.

"What guy?" The young Wayne squealed, clamping her hands over her mouth and spun around.

"What the _**HELL**_ are you doing here?!" She commanded as she brought her hands down from her mouth.

"What, I can't go shopping?" Jack inquired, straightening that ridiculous trench coat disguise of his.

"No, you can't."

"Who's this, Plio?" Charlie asked as she waved to the stranger. Plio spun back around, eyes wide with shock.

"Are you _**FUCKING**_ serious?!"

"John. I'm an old friend of Plio's." He answered—ignoring Plio—extending his hand for Charlie to shake, who happily accepted it. Plio, feeling oddly jealous, grabbed her pure white 'friend' and began to push him out the store and down the sidewalk, '_Whore._' "What the—"

"Well, he'd love to stay and chat but we've got to be going."

"Um, o-okay, just make sure you're ready by seven o'clock!"

"Three hours to get ready" Jack began to say when they were a little ways down the sidewalk, "I don't think that's enough time." He looked back and smiled at the pissed off teen pushing him along, "Four would be much better." Her fist slammed into the back of his shoulder blade.

"OW!"

"Shut the fuck up, you jerk."

"_I'm_ the jerk? You're the one hitting people!"

"And you're the one who ruined my day out!"

"Hey, I don't know what you're talking about. That cute blonde one was all into me." Plio felt her blood boil, and she didn't know why.

"Just shut up and go…and she's not cute." '_She's jealous._' He thought with a smug look.

"Where are you taking me?"

"Somewhere far from them." She turned and they entered an alleyway, stopping a short distance in. She motioned for him to go up the ladder, and he complied.

"Sooooo, you got a date tonight. Wow." He said once he was on the roof.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She demanded—a hint of anger in her voice—taking his hand as he helped her up.

"Nothing, I just never really saw you as the dating type…that's all. What's his name?" He asked, stuffing his fists into his pockets and looking down at his feet.

"His name, if you must know, is Andrew Moneyworks."

::snort::

"What?"

"What kind of a retarded name is that? '_Moneyworks,_' that's so fucking stupid!"

"Oh, yeah, like you have _any_ room to talk…_Jackendaboks_."

"Damnit, don't call me that!' She rolled her eyes and walked to the edge of the building, taking a seat.

"There's no need to be 'jealous.'"

"WHAT?! I'm not fucking JEALOUS! Why the hell would I be jealous?! And of _what_? Some wimpy-ass bitch? Pleeease." He crossed his arms and turned his back to her; he was more or less trying to convince himself what he had said was true.

"Fine, pout if you want, I don't care."

"I'm not pouting…" he mumbled in a pouting-filled voice, she burst into laughter which earned her a glare.

"Okay, whatever, but come here."

"Why?"

"You see that restaurant down there?" she pointed to a semi-large building just below them, "That's where we'll be." Jack turned his head to glance down at the restaurant, a haughty look on his pure white face.

"So."

"So I want you to be up here the whole time."

"What? Why? I don't want to see you two on your…outing…" he couldn't bring himself to say the word 'date.'

"Incase something should happen. I know I can take care of myself, but I'd feel better knowing that you were up here." He raised a green eyebrow in curiosity.

"You really think he'll try something?"

"I dunno, but I don't trust him at all."

"Then why go on a date with him?"

"Because, it's what people expect of me," she pulled her knees up to her chest, hugging them tightly, and resting her chin on them, "to date people with money, like myself."

"That's fucking stupid." He grunted, looking in the other direction, growing more and more pissed. "You should be with someone because you _love_ them, not because it's what people _expect_. If you keep doing what _they_ want, instead of what _you _want, you'll _never_ be happy. And you deserve a life much better than that." Plio was in absolute awe, she didn't know what to say. Never had he been this nice…or even cared, for that matter.

Jack sat in silence, breathing deep, trying to keep his anger management problem under control. People really pissed him off sometimes. Then something pressed against his cheek, something soft and warm. He could feel her lips turn up into a smile, "Thank you, Jack," she said and stood up, "You know, you're pretty sweet when you want to be." He said nothing. "So you'll be here at seven, right?"

"……yeah."

"Good, see ya then."

"………later." And she was gone, just like that. Gone to go get ready for a date with a guy that will most likely try to hurt her. If there was one thing he truly hated, it'd be a man abusing a woman. So he sat, sat there for three hours, planning all the different ways he could torture and kill the fucking bastard if he so much as laid a single hand on her.

"Here you are, Plio." The sound of Andrew's voice traveled to the rooftop next door and to the ear of the half asleep teen clown. Jack's eyes snapped open at the mention of her name. "You hungry?"

"Starving." Plio stepped out of the black limo while the well dressed Andrew held the door open. Jack peered of the edge of the building and sneered, '_Damn, that dude is really fucking ugly. Heh, he looks like Richie Rich._' Jack forced himself to suppress the urge to laugh; he didn't want to blow his cover. He watched them enter the restaurant, and—lucky for him—they got a table by a really big window.

He watched them eat dinner, watched them eat dessert, and watched the bastard flirt with Plio­— who didn't buy into it. This guy was really pathetic. Jack was staring to think that there wasn't much to worry about, that is, until he saw Andrew get up and move to Plio's side of the booth. He could see the punk whispering something in her ear, and he could see the growing anger on her face.

And that's when it happened.

Andrew Moneyworks was on the floor with a large piece of cake in his face. Jack couldn't, try as he might, contain his amusement and burst into a fit of laughter. He saw Plio come out of the restaurant clearly upset and decide to climb down to meet her, but something caught his eye: Andrew came storming through the doors, but instead of going to his limo, he went around to the side of the building.

"What's he up to?" He kept his yellow-gold eyes on the blonde bitch; Andrew walked op to two thugs leaning against the wall and handed them both a wad of money. "The fuck?" The three of them began making their way up the street in the same direction Plio had gone. Jack got a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach; he knew exactly what they were planning on doing, "……Plio…"

Plio sauntered down the sidewalk almost in tears. How could that fucking bastard even ask her that? Jack had been right, she deserved so much better. She looked up and searched the rooftops for her green-haired friend and foe. All of the sudden Plio felt someone grab her arm and for a split second she felt relieved. "Jack, it's abou—" She turned not to see the person she wanted but some unfamiliar guy. "Get the fuck off!" She went to sucker punch the asshole when another guy grasped her free hand in a tight hold. Together they slammed her into an alleyway wall, knocking the breath out of her. She struggled against them but to no prevail.

"Don't try to fight, Plio, you'll only hurt yourself." Andrew stepped into the light and she could see his face, it was pure evil. He strolled up to her and placed his hands on her slender waist. "You see, Plio," his hands started to move upward…slowly, "I always get what I want," his face was close now, so he was speaking into her ear. She could feel his disgusting breath on her cheek.

"Andrew?" she asked quietly and seductively. He pulled his head back a little so he could look at her face, still very close. She smiled at him sweetly and then—WHAM!—her head crashed into his, causing him to cry out and stumble backwards. "You fucking BASTARD!" she screamed as loud as she could. The two thugs snickered and smirked in amusement feeding Andrew's anger. The back of his hand smashed into the side of her face—making her a little dizzy—then he lifted her chin up so he could look her in the face again.

"I wouldn't try that again, bitch, you wouldn't want my temper to get the better of me. Cuz when it does…" his other hand cupped her breast, "I tend to do bad things…" She inhaled sharply when he began to grope her. "Now, doesn't that feel g—" She bit the hand holding her face, leaving a mark. He slapped her across the face again, "You wanna play rough?! Fine!" He pushed her head back against the wall, holding it there, and pressed his lips to hers. She felt the tears swell up as her mind thought of only one thing, '…_Jack……_'

It all happened so fast…

Out of nowhere Andrew was ripped away from her and thrown into the opposite wall. The thugs dropped their hold on Plio and tried to make a run for it, screaming that they were sorry, but something caught one of them by his arm and threw him down the alley. Andrew, gaining back his composure, grabbed his attacker by the shoulder, shouting, "Hey, bitch! Who the **fuck** do you think yo—"

He froze.

Plio, relieved and still a bit frightened, slid down the wall into a sitting position, staring in awe. Much to Andrew's horror, he found himself face to face with Gotham's most terrifying person……Jackendaboks.

"Now tell me again," he said with hatred and sarcasm, "who exactly is the _bitch_?" Jack's powerful fist sunk into the side of Andrew's jaw, sending crashing onto the hard concrete ground. He picked him up by the throat and slammed him into the brick wall. Then he brought their faces closer together and spoke in a deep, menacing voice, "If there's one thing I can't FUCKING stand, it's a guy that get's his **fix **on betting and rapping women."

Odd…

He was…he was _shaking_. But it wasn't completely out of rage…no…it was something else. Was it…_fear_? Could he have been scared? Yes…he _was_, he was scared, scared for _her_, for her life. The life of his enemy…

"If you EVER jeopardize Plio's safety or reputation, I promise they won't find your remains, for I **will** kill you, and I **will** enjoy it." Again he smashed the smaller boy into the wall. Andrew gasped and yelled out in pain before passing out.

"Stop it!" Plio cried when she saw him pull his fist back for another punch. She wrapped her arms tightly around his torso and buried her face into the back of his should blades. "Don't do it! This isn't you, Jack!" she sobbed loudly, "You don't do this! Please! _Please_ don't do something that'll get you locked away forever!" She had seen this side of her best friend only a few times, but when she did, it scared the _hell _out of her.

Not wanting to upset her more than she already was, the young villain let go of his victim and watched him fall to ground unconscious. Jack, slowly calming down, took her hands and unwrapped them from around his waist so he could turn to face her. He looked deep into her soft blue eyes—his yellow ones full of sorrow and hate—before grabbing her and pulling her close in a bear hug. "I wasn't sure I'd get here in time," he whispered in her ear, his voice shaking and overwhelming with grief, "I'm so sorry, P, can you forgive me?"

"For what?" She asked, looking up at him.

"For letting you down. I wasn't here to prevent this from happening."

"Don't be stupid, you saved me."

They stood in silence for a long while, neither of them knowing what exactly to say. This wasn't the first time he had saved her life; he'd actually done it quite a lot. And every time he acted like this. She never understood why, though; they were close, yes, but they were still enemies. With her hands on his chest, she pushed out of grip. "Hey, I got an idea. C'mon," she said, and, with his hand in hers, she headed across the street, dragging him behind her.

"Where we going?"

"To our old hide out."

"Ah…yes…" he nodded, "…the park."

_x__**X**__x_

Gotham's one and only park had always been a calm, happy place; a place of peace. It was loud and full of life during the day, and by dusk, quiet and full of shear beauty. In the far eastern corner, where most didn't go due to the distance, was a huge, old oak tree. Beneath it was a double-sided oak bench—it looked something like a booth—and ever since they were old enough to leave their houses alone, the two of them would go there when they needed to escape the world. Tonight was one of those times.

Plio took one side and Jack took the other, lying down with there heads at opposite ends, a 'wooden wall' between them. She was the first to speak, "You know, we haven't been here in a while."

"I know, I kinda missed it."

"Me too." They were quiet again, taking in the fresh air and mesmerizing surroundings. "That's never happened before," she whispered.

"What?"

"No one's ever gotten the upper hand with me. Well, I mean, you have on occasion, but not like _that_." Jack sat up, peering over the bench to her side, his arms and chin resting on the top.

"Everyone has an off day, Plio. I doubt it'll happen again anytime soon. I won't let it." Plio sat up and mimicked the way he was sitting. She stared him in the eyes and smirked.

"Tell me something, Jack."

"Huh?"

"Why do you get so upset when my life is at jeopardy?"

"Reasons." He answered, turning his head.

"Well, _that_ narrows it down. What kinda reasons?" He didn't say anything. "You might as well go ahead and tell me cuz you know I'll just keep bugging you till you do." With a heavy sigh, he turned his face back to hers and looked her in her eyes.

"You're always so persistent, aren't cha?" She grinned and nodded once. "Alright, fine," he took a deep breath and continued, "I've grown up in seclusion from all other people, especially other kids, my entire life. The only kid I've ever been around is you. Yes, you are my '_greatest enemy_', but at the same time you were and are my best and only friend. I loose you, I'll be completely alone. And I don't think I could handle it."

Well, that was…unexpected. Definitely not what she had been anticipating. An insult would have been more predictable. The grin that had claimed her face now reached ear to ear, much to his discomfort and embarrassment. "What's so funny?"

"That was so **cute**!!"

"Erg!!" Annoyed, he lay back down, scowling at the sky.

"Oh, c'mon. That was the sweetest thing you've ever said."

"Whatever." Plio could not, try as she may, help her smiling, he was just so adorable when he was all serious; she hardly got to see him like that.

She looked up noticing just how dark it had gotten and grabbed the tote bag she had brought with her. Reaching inside, she pulled out a wad of pink and black clothes. She glanced around to make sure there was no one close by—it was empty—and began to change. Hearing the noise she was making, Jack propped up on his elbows and called out, "What are you do—"

"Stay down!" She snapped and he did as he was told.

"Okay, jeez." He waited for what seemed like twenty minutes when in reality it had only been nineteen, before she gave him the okay.

"All done." He sat up finding not Plio, but the 'Princess of the Night,' BD. His mouth dropped. "What?"

"You fucking changed in the middle of the fucking park?!"

"First of all, this is the **BACK** of the fucking park! And second, there ain't **NOBODY** out here!"

"That doesn't matter!! You're a fucking whore!"

"And you're a fucking bitch! So what?! Now c'mon!" She jumped off the bench and headed back out of the park. Jack, growling, got up and followed her.

_x__**X**__x_

"Ahh-hh! It's been four fucking hours! Why hasn't anyone committed a damn crime?!" BD shouted from her spot on the bank roof.

"Maybe they're all_ :yawn:_ sleeping. It is two thirty in the morning."

"Yeah, that's what they _want_ you to think. Wait."

"What?"

"Why aren't '_you_' committing a crime?" She asked, eyebrow raised and arms crossed.

"Mom said not to, said I needed to spend the weekend having fun like a 'normal' teenager."

"Hmm…she right."

"…thanks."

"Seriously, and I know just how you can." She said and turned her body so she was facing him.

"How?"

"Okay, see, now don't laugh, alright?"

"Me? Laugh? Never."

::glare::

::smirk::

"Whatever, anyways, see, next weekend my, uh…my, uh…school is, um…is….hosting this…dance…" her cheeks turned bright red.

"Really now?"

"Yeah, it's kinda like a 'pre' prom, the Fall/Winter dance…and…I was wondering if you wanted to go with…me." She adverted her eyes on the last word; Jack on the other hand stared at her in disbelief. Had she actually just asked him on a date?

"You want me" he pointed to himself "to go with you?" he pointed to her. She nodded.

"Yes, but you're mom and her amazing make up skill will have to do something about your problem."

"What problem?"

"Your lack of pigment problem."

"……funny………real funny."

"So you'll go with me?" She asked; hope gleaming in her beautiful sapphire blue eyes. He reached up and moved her pink and black bangs from her face, his fingertips lightly brushing her forehead. Grinning like a damn fool, he finally gave her an answer.

"I'd be honored to go with you to your '_pre-prom_,' Plio Wayne." In a shrill of happiness she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.

"Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyou!"

"No prob, really." She began to pull back but froze when she had realized just how close they were: their faces mere inches apart. How and when had they gotten in this situation? BD, not giving it a second thought, started to move forward as did Jack. The space between their lips had almost become nonexistent and then—

"BD!"

The two of them screamed and damn near fell off the roof, bringing distance between them. "Oh my Gawd! If people don't stop doing that, I'm gonna kill someone!"

"BD!"

"Huh?" BD looked down, following the sound of the voice, at her watch like video thing to see her mother's stern face. "Oh. Hi mom!" She said with a wave.

"Hi, Mrs. Catwoman." Jack greeted with a wave as well.

"Hi, Jack. BD, why don't you go ahead and come on home?"

"What if someone does something?"

"It's almost three in the morning. No one is going to be doing anything. Now come home."

"……fine…" She got up and looked back at her 'friend,' "I'll, uh…I'll see you later then."

"Y-yeah……later." And she left, leaving the clown prince alone on the rooftop, muttering to himself, "Fucking A."

Plio climbed down the latter and, keeping to the shadows, made her way toward her house. The entire trip her mind kept replaying that moment on the roof; was she really going to kiss him? Was _he_ really going to hiss _her_?

No, of course not! They were friends by day and enemies by night, and that was it. Nothing more, not ever.

But…maybe…

::_Back on the rooftop_::

Jack breathed deep, trying to calm himself back down. He couldn't believe it, but he knew his feelings were true and there was no way to deny it. So why try? He held his breath and spoke to himself, "Holy fucking shit…I'm in love with BD………fuck!!"

End Chapter

Okay, there you go! Hope you really, really liked it. Took me forever to type. But it was well worth it.

Thanx for my wonderful reviews, Arica, Princess of Rivendell; Rogue238; Shebakune; Animelimit, and Not Really Anything(whom I'm still expecting a cookie from), you all ROCK!

Stick around cuz the next chapter's gonna be even better, all about our favorite boy, Jack!

TTFN!

Dyno!


	3. The Basement

Okay, here it is chapter 3! Woot woot! I hope y'all enjoy it. Took me forever to write, but I got it done. Now go read and be merry.

Oh, and this chapter is dedicated to my friend, Danielle, who inspired most of the dialog.

**Chapter 3: The Basement **

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"Fuck!" Jack shouted as he knocked a pile of books off his desk. "Damnit, how the fuck did this happen?!" He flung himself onto his bed, his hands over his face, trying to call himself down. '_I can't be in love with her! She's fucking 'BD', Plio Wayne, my worst fucking enemy! It's not right!……then again, since when have I cared about what's right? No! She may be my friend, but she's still my enemy. And I definitely don't want to be with my enemy………right?_' "ERR! WHY DOES EVEYTHING HAVE TO BE SO DAMN COMPLICATED?!"

"Because life's fucked up!" his mother yelled back to his rhetorical question from somewhere else in their "house."

"Yeah, that's for damn sure." he muttered to himself—with a smirk—looking out the window. From his room you could see the front half of Gotham High and all the students in attendance. He remembered how he used to watch the kids enter and leave the school, wishing he could be one of them. And now, he began to realize, he was getting a chance to somewhat be exactly what he so desperately desired, even if it was a bit unethical. But Jack never really cared for ethics. He would get to be in school—so to speak—with students, not really as one of them, but at least as one of their peers. And he could honestly say that there was no one on God's green earth that he'd rather go with then his best friend. Now he just needed to figure out what to wear; he leapt off his bed and ran through the door, "MOM!"

_x__**X**__x_

"You asked _**who**_ to the dance?"

Plio Wayne sat in utter silence, tapping her pencil on her notebook, avoiding eye contact with her mother. She had made the mistake of just coming right out with who she had asked to the upcoming dance.

"Well?"

"I said I asked Jack," she murmured.

"Do you fucking know what's going to happen when your father finds out?" Selena stressed as she leaned across the kitchen bar.

"That's why dad's not **gonna** find out." Plio stressed back, also leaning across the bar.

"Find out about what?" Selena, wide-eyed, turned her attention to the kitchen door to see her husband standing there; Plio kept her eyes locked on the countertop.

"Huh?

"Find out about _what_?" Bruce asked again.

"I…um…we…uh—" cutting her mother off, Plio whipped around in her char, a crooked smile on her face,

"That I successfully learned how to use a tampon." Bruce's face turned a pale color.

"……Well…keep up the good work." He was gone in the blink of an eye, pale as a ghost. Selena, who was still facing the door, turned slowly back around, her mouth slightly ajar. She stared at her daughter—who had her head on the table, laughing hysterically—with complete disbelief.

"Oh…my God. I cannot **believe** you just said that."

"It just," _:snort:_ "came out." _:snort:_

"That wasn't funny." She tried to say with a stern, serious voice, but found it difficult.

"Yeah it was, and it got him to go away," Plio argued, still laughing.

"Yes, well, getting back to business; are you sure you know what you're doing?"

" 'Bout what?" she asked, her laughter suddenly stopping.

"About asking Jack to the dance."

"Yes…I guess…I dunno. I know he really wants to go."

"He told you that?"

"No, but he's always wanted to go to school, and this is the closest he'll ever get to actually going."

Well now, that was news to her. Jack, the son of the Joker, wanting to go to school? '_Funny, I never really took him to be the type to want to learn._' Selena thought to herself.

"He's really smart; he's been learning on his own for years."

"Really? How's he been doing that?"

"The internet…"

"Ah, yes, the internet."

"…And textbooks he's been stealing from the school."

"He's been stealing text books? Don't you need those?"

"Like high schoolers actually use their text books." Selena didn't laugh along with her daughter; she was far too deep in thought. There was no way Plio was talking about the Jackendaboks she knew. The annoying punk that was always causing trouble, never danger, just trouble. However, thinking back over the years, she realized that every act of crime he committed, every plan he made was well thought, extremely intelligent, and damn near flawless.

"So," she finally said, "Jackendaboks really wants to go to school?"

"Yeah, but unfortunately he'll never get to, you know, 'cause I seriously doubt his parents will be okay with it—well at least not the Joker—and I seriously doubt the school will welcome him with open arms. It's a shame too."

"Why?"

"It'd be his senior year."

"That_is_ a shame…" Selena thought long and hard about what she had just learnt. Knowledge was such a terrible thing to waste, and if Jack really wanted to learn than he should be able to. "Plio, how about you and I start dress shopping tomorrow? Right now I've got a couple of phone calls to make."

"Aw, can't we make my dress? That way it'd be really original."

"Fine, now go on."

" 'Kay, but who you calling?"

"Oh, just some old friends that owe me some favors." Slowly a smile began to appear on Plio's face, her eyes becoming wide with excitement, as she figured out what her mother was planning to do.

"Are you going to—"

"_Try_. I'm not making any promises." Plio lunged from her seat and ran to her mother, embracing her in a tight hug.

"You're so frickin' AWESOME!"

"I know." She said, patting her daughter head. "But do **not** tell him. Like I said, I'm not making any promises."

"Yeah, but you still rock."

"Yes, now go finish your homework. I've got work to do."

"Alright." She let go of her mother, gathered her things, and head for the door. "Oh," she stopped and glanced back, "and don't call him Jackendaboks. You know he hates it."

_x__**X**__x_

"Really?...Really?...Seriously?...You are the _best_!...Alright, see you later." Harleen Quinzel hung up the phone with a smile, oh how she wanted nothing more than to tell her son the great news, but, as difficult as it was, she knew she had to keep it a secret.

"What was that about?" Jack asked as he walked past his mother.

"You and I are going somewhere tomorrow." He stopped, eyeing her with curiosity.

"W-where?"

"To a friend's house, to start the process of turning you into a normal kid. We can rebuild you. We have the technology. We can make you better, faster stronger."

"You are insane, aren't cha mom?"

"Just a little. I did marry you're father, did I?" Jack smirked, '_Yeah, only you didn't officially marry him._' Harleen placed a plate of sausage, eggs, and toast in front of her son with a warm, motherly smile, "Eat up. We don't want you getting weak." He picked up his fork and began stuffing his face. His mother wasn't the best cook, but she wasn't too shabby.

"You think this whole dance thing is a good idea?" He asked with a mouth full of food.

"Of course it is. You deserve it."

"But it's with…" he stopped and looked around then mouthed, "you know who."

"So."

"I do want to go, I mean, this 'pre-prom'" he said with sarcasm, "dance actually sounds kinda cool."

"What?" They froze, the icy, evil voice sending chills down their spines. "What did you say, son?" Jack arose from his seat, turning to face his so-called father, and looked him directly in his face. Oh, how he _**hated**_ that man. "I asked you a ques—"

"I was talking about a movie, and a character named Brom. He looks pretty cool." They glared at on another—one with burning hatred, the other with disappointment. Jacks sperm donor—as he referred to his father—grinned, showing those hideous yellow teeth.

"Of course you were." He alleged in such a way that Jack felt his heart skip a beat out of fear. "Harley, is that food ready yet?" He asked, coldly. She did not answer. "Harley?!" he demanded, taking a step toward her, but was stopped. Jack, instantly and instinctively, moved in front of his father, a scowl upon his face.

"It'll be ready when she's done." He said through gritted teeth. The Joker grinned once more before returning to his 'solitary confinement.'

Jack closed his eyes and breathed deep, filling his lungs with air. His entire body was tense, like it always was whenever he and that asshole confronted each other. When he was big enough to take his father on in a fight, he swore he'd never let him lay another hand on his mother—she might have been a psychotic moron, but she at least _acted_ like a good parent…to some degree—and in five years, Harley Quinn hadn't received a single bruise from her 'lover.'

Jack turned back to his mother, loath and detest still burning in his gaze. "Don't get so angry, sweetie, you know it's not good for you."

"Like how he's not good for you…" he muttered, glaring intently at the countertop.

"Don't say that."

"It's true!" he shouted, his head snapping up.

"Shhh. Keep your voice down." She whispered while glancing down the hall. "And, no, it's not true."

"Yes it is, and you know it is. In all honesty, mom, why'd you _marry_ him?" Harleen, not wanting to look her son in the eyes, turned her attention back to the food on the stove.

"Because, I love him and he loves me. And we're a happy family."

"You're not gonna burst into song are you?" A giggle was her only reply. Jack watched his mom in awe. How could she be so damn stupid? It was painfully obvious even to a blind man that the Joker _**didn't**_ love her. He never understood why any woman would stay with an abusive man. His mother was strong, he'd seen her in fights plenty of times, so why didn't she ever stand up for herself when her husband beat her?

Needing some serious fresh air and time to himself, Jack quietly walked out of the room uttering only three words, "I'm going out."

_x__**X**__x_

The clown prince took a seat on a rooftop of one of Gotham's many buildings, his eyes fixed on the sunset before him. He listened to the moans and groans of the thugs and punks beneath him with insane glee, feeling much better. It seemed a little weird, taking out his fellow criminal, but if he expected to go to this dance, he had to stay on Plio's good side…for this week, at least.

'_Plio…_' Her image popped into his mind. How he needed her right then. Needed to talk to her, to hear his sweet voice. He thought of that outrageous pink and black hair and the matching outfit; he thought of her deep blue, sapphire eyes. Perhaps loving someone like her wouldn't be so bad…that is…if she loved him back.

Just then something caught his eye, down below him, through a window of an old warehouse, he saw a trap door. It was just standing up, as if begging him to check it out. And how could he say no when it was 'begging?' That would be mean, and like he told himself earlier, he couldn't be mean. With a mischievous smirk, he climbed down from the building he had been perched upon, chuckling at the still moaning thugs, and moseyed on over to the warehouse.

Grabbing the doorknob, he tried to turn it, but the damn thing was locked. He reached into one of the pockets of his pants, pulled out a lock pick set, and got to work. Click '_Yes!_' he thought to himself when it became unlocked. He went to open the door when he suddenly stopped. Without taking his eyes off the door, he smirked and called out, "So now it's you doing the following?" BD stepped out from the darkness of the shadows, a little annoyed at being caught.

"I wasn't following you, I was just watching…you…"

"So you're _stalking_?"

"Man, shut up! Now what the hell are you doing?"

"I was just checking out this abandoned warehouse." He answered, his smile still in place.

"If it was locked then you're trespassing." Jack held out his hands as if he were wearing handcuffs.

"Arrest me then." His sarcasm earned him a deadly glare. She pushed him out of the way and opened the door, walking in.

"What could be so fucking coo—oh look, a trap door." She stared at the large opening in the floor, not sure what to make of it.

"Huh, imagine that. I had no idea that was there, let's go check it out." He began to move forward but she grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"Whoa, you ain't actually going in there, are you?"

"Well duh, why wouldn't I?"

"Because, it's really dark and creepy…and dark…" Jacked gawked at her in pure disbelief.

"You live in a fucking cave."

"I don't **live** in the **cave**. I hardly go in there."

"What about the city? You practically live in the dark."

"No, ah-uh, no matter where you go in the city, there is ALWAYS light. I'm talking about pitch black darkness. You know, when it's so dark you can't even see your face in front of your hand……I mean your hand in front of your face. SEE?! I'm so freaked out I can't even talk straight!" Jack rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Fine, I won't go."

"Really?" she asked, loosening her hold on his arm.

"Yeah right." He yanked himself out of her grip and jumped down the hole. "You can wait up there if you want. I'll try not to be too long." he called back up. BD gaped around the old, creaky, abandoned, ominous building and gulped.

"Hell no, I ain't staying up here by myself! I **hate** warehouses, too." She dropped down through the black hole of terror and quickly caught up to Jack. She placed a hand on each on his shoulders and kept her face close to his back. "Now just go." Again, he rolled his eyes and shook his head. '_Big baby._'

They walked on, going deeper and deeper into the underground tunnel. With every creek, bump, scratch, and rustle Jack felt BD's grip on his shoulders tighten. At one point Jack kicked something like a soda can which made a semi-loud noise scaring the hell out of BD; she wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face into his back. "You know, you didn't have to come."

"You shut up!"

"I didn't tell you to shut up!"

"I don't know!" '_Oh my God,_' he thought, '_girl is psychotic when she's scared shitless_.' "How can you even see where you're going?"

"My eyes automatically adjust to the darkness. I can see everything as plain as daylight."

"Really?"

"Yeah. How else do you think I maneuver those dark allies?" They walked a little ways farther and then came to a sudden stop. BD lifted her head just enough to see what had stopped them from moving.

"Wow," was all she managed to say. They stood at the entrance of an enormous room filled with books, chairs, chalkboards, tables, and a large podium. BD, much to Jack's disappointment, let go of him, slowly, and began to wander around the room. There was a strange symbol on just about everything. "I've never seen this monogram before. Have you?"

"No, and it doesn't look like any gang sign I've ever seen."

"Then what do you think it is or means?"

"Dunno, a cult perhaps…but for what?" He looked down just in time to prevent himself from tripping over a rather thick book. He picked it up and read the title, immediately getting his answer: Gotham's Greatest Villains. He opened the cover with caution and instantly felt his blood boil with white hot rage. '_Number one, the Joker. What a bunch of fuckers._' He slammed the book shut and threw it back onto the ground in a fury. "Let's go, there's no point in us being here. These people are obviously fucking retarded." BD moved over to him, picked up the book, and opened it.

"Uh…well…um…_technically_ he kinda, uh, _was_, but I totally get where you're coming from. They're retarded, absolutely." She saw his fist clench tightly and she thought he was about to explode. However, instead he stood holding out his hand for her to take.

"You comin'?" He smiled and so did she. Dropping the book BD took his hand and they headed out of the room and back down the tunnel.

When they got back to the opening Jack helped BD up and out onto the floor above before doing the same himself. "There, that wasn't so bad, now was it?" he asked as she dusted herself off.

"Eh…" she uttered and looked up at him with a smile. Jack cupped the side of her face, wiping away some dirt on her cheek with his thumb. The feel of her soft skin made his body tingle and her eyes mesmerized him. He knew he shouldn't have, he knew it went against everything he was taught, but she was so beautiful and he loved her so damn much.

His red lips took her pink ones. BD, a little taken at first, closed her eyes and leaned into the kiss. Her lips were so soft, he could hardly stand the ecstasy he was feeling. Jack prayed that the moment would never 'end; unfortunately, all good things must come to an end.

_::SCREEEECH::_

"AHHHH! THE FUCK WAS THAT?!" Jack yelped as he hit the floor.

"Holy crap, it was just a bat." BD held up her arm and the flying rodent landed on her wrist.

"GET THAT FUCKING THING OFF OF YOU!"

"Why?"

"IT'LL FUCKING EAT YOU!" BD look at the bat and the bat looked at her. Then they both looked back at the young clown cowering on the floor.

"Are you ever going to get over that fear?"

"_Hell_ no!" he shouted and bolted for the door. "I'll see you later! Gotta get home!" BD watched him run off and laughed.

"Haha…ha…ha…" she looked around and realized she was absolutely alone in the old, creepy, abandoned, ominous warehouse. "Yeah, I gotta go too." She, as well, bolted out of the building and back to her home.

_x__**X**__x_

Jack laid on his bed, his pillow over his face. Why had he done it? Okay, he knew _why_, but he also knew it was wrong, even for him. How was he going to face her now? Maybe if he stayed away from her this week, she'd forget about it, and the dance won't be so awkward, that is, if he still got to go. Little did he know, he'd be spending every day for the next week at the house of Wayne.

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Oooooo, I wonder what's gonna happen…hehe. I'll have chapter 4 up ASAP so y'all can find out. Please R&R! And thanks to all who did take time out of their day to review. It means a lot. LUV YA!

Dyno


	4. Dance Preparations

Okay, here we go, chapter 4. Man, I'm getting these things up faster than I ever have. Awesomeness. Anyways, I hope y'all enjoy, and just to let you know, I still don't own anything in this story but Plio and Jackendaboks…and the story itself.

NOW ON WITH IT!!

**Chapter 4: Dance Preparations**

_x__**X**__x_

He left the curtain open again. Why'd he have to forget? He _always _forgot to close those damn curtains when he needed to sleep in, which was now. It had been four in the morning before the young clown had fallen asleep, and now, three and a half hours later, the bright, brilliant sunlight was clawing at his snow white face. He pulled his comforter snuggly over his head, moaning, '_Why I had to get the room with the window facing east, I'll never understand._' Closing his eyes he welcomed the blissfulness of sleep once again.

_Bam…bam…bam_

His eyes snapped open…

"Jackendaboks! Get up and get ready! We've gotta go in an hour!" With a groan he covered his head with his pillow. Yes, why did he have to forget the damn curtains?

Forty minutes and one hot shower later…

The groggy teenager stumbled into the kitchen, rubbing his eye and yawning loudly. "Morning, Sweetie." His mother said with a loving smile.

"Muhneeg," he managed to say through another yawn. "Why are you always a morning person?" he asked, a little annoyed at her cheeriness so early in the morning.

"Because, it's the start of a brand new day." She placed a large plate of sausage, eggs, and cream of wheat in front of her baggy-eyed son. "Hurry up and eat, we're leaving as soon as you're done."

"Tuh wawer?" He asked mouth full of food.

"You'll see." Jack eyed his mother, she wasn't wearing her normal Harley Quinn get-up. "We're going to start the process of getting you ready for the dance."

"Do you have to call it 'the process?' You make it sound more like a project."

"Well it will be difficult." She 'reassured' him with another smile. "Now let's be off." She tossed Jack his coat and gloves as he stood up, and motioned for him to follow her.

It was Monday morning, and the streets of Gotham City were as busy as ever. Jack was becoming more and more nervous and anxious with every passing minute. The direction they were going was all too familiar to him; he went this particular way every day. It was the back entrance to Plio's house, the house of Wayne, the home of the former Batman. There was no way his mother knew their identities. He'd never told her and she couldn't have figured it out on her own. "Mom," he spoke his words with caution, "where are we going?"

"I think you already know the answer to that."

"Uh…you know who they are?"

"Of course; Selena, or Mrs. Catwoman as you know her, and I may not have gotten along all the time back in the day, but I considered, and still do, her a friend."

"How come you never told dad?"

"It wouldn't have been any fun taking out Bruce Wayne himself. It was Batman we had a beef with." She said very matter-of-factly.

"Okay, but why are we going to see her? Won't Bruce be there?"

"No, he's at work and she's going to help me get you ready." Jack kept quiet for the rest of the way. For years he thought he was the only one who knew about the Waynes, but now he finds out his mother knew too. Jack felt his pride decrease a little bit.

They arrived at the backdoor of the enormous mansion and were greeted by the warm, welcoming face of Selena Wayne. "Jack, always good to see you. You know, when you're not getting into trouble." she said as she gave the boy a hug, which he happily returned. She was one of the only people who ever treated him like a normal kid, and he had always greatly appreciated it. "Well, come on in."

Jack and his mother followed the former criminal through her house. He had never actually been on a tour of their house before. The most he'd ever seen was Plio's room and the upstairs bathroom. He walked through the hallways in complete awe. There were priceless paintings lining the walls, the occasional statue every ten feet. Oh how he wanted to steal something.

They reached the end of the hall and Selena, with a grin, opened the last door; inside was a massive room lined in mirrors and a platform in the center. "What should we do first?"

"Well," Harley began, walking into the room, tapping her finger to her chin, "getting the make-up just right, and getting it to look real will probably take a while, so lets go ahead and knock out the suit." Selena smiled and waved for Jack to step up onto the platform.

Jack eyed both his mother and the Wayne woman with uncertainty, but obediently did as he was directed. "You actually had a dressing room installed in your house?" He asked as he looked around the room at the racks of clothes, shelves of fabric, and desks of sewing equipment.

"Of course," she answered as if it were totally obvious, "Bruce and I go to a lot of black tie parties and taking our clothes to an alteration place takes up too much time. This way we can do it ourselves. And I usually save money by making my own dresses." She took the measuring tape from one of the desks and unraveled it. "Okay, arms out, legs apart and straight." He did as she said and took the measurements of his legs, arms, torso, neck, waist, and whatnot, calling them out to Harley who was writing them down.

Selena walked to one of the clothing racks, grabbed a black suit, and brought it back to Jack. "They'll be a little big," she said "but we can fix that. Now go try it on," she pointed to a door at the back of the room. '_Another room?_' he thought, '_Jeez, how big is this house?_' With a sigh he stepped off the platform and disappeared behind the door. The two women waited patiently as he struggled silently to get the suit on. They both smiled proudly when he emerged from behind the door. "Aw, you look so handsome!" Selena exclaimed, clapping her hands together.

"My little boy is all grown up." Harley sniffled.

"Yeah, I'm not feeling this." He groaned, holding his arms out.

"Why not, sweetie?" his mother asked, confused by his dislike.

"I look like a fucking penguin!" He shouted, and he looks he got made him realize what he had just said. He turned to Mrs. Wayne and bowed his head, "Sorry," he said in apology for his coarse language, "I shouldn't speak like that in front of a lady…but I do look like a penguin."

"No you don't! What makes you think that?" Selena inquired as she circled him, looking him up and down.

"I've got a fucking tail!" He shouted again, turning his head to glance at the flap of black and white fabric coving his butt. He looked back at the women to find them glaring and, again, he apologized for this language.

Selena held her chin between her forefinger and thumb in deep thought. "Well, most, if not all, of Bruce's suits are like that, but it won't be much of a problem to take it off, so go and pick out some stuff you like and we can alter them to fit you. What do you say?" Jack nodded and got work. Rummaging through the clothes and materials, he picked out whatever he could find that could possibly, maybe pass as 'cool.' He gave them to Selena, who began altering them immediately and told him to go to his mother.

Harley had set up her make-up kit on one of the vanities, waiting for her son to take a seat. She held out a skin tone chart, "Which shade?" she asked. The tones went from 'Really White' to 'Really Black' and everything in between. Jack hated those unnatural looking tans and stuff so he chose something between 'Pale' and 'Golden' like 'Fare.' "Alright my dear Jackendaboks," he cringed at his name, "let's get to work."

The week seemed to go by pretty quick. Every morning Harleen and Jack would head for the Wayne's when Selena called and gave them the _okay_, making sure they didn't draw attention to themselves on the way there, and making sure the Joker didn't catch on. They would spend a good bit of the day trying on his suit, but most of the time was spent on the make up, making him look 'normal.' With all the trouble they were going through, Jack had begun to think that the whole thing wasn't worth it.

But Friday came at last, which meant the dance was in a mere 24 hours so to speak. Jack and his mother were at the Wayne's house for the last time. Selena had finished his wardrobe, but, to his annoyance, refused to let him see it. She promised it was 'cool' and that he'd like it. '_I better,_' he thought to himself, '_I've gone through __**too**__ much shit this week to end up looking like a dumbass._' He sat with a grump look in front of the vanity. His mother had covered the mirror so he wouldn't be able to see what he looked like with the make-up on just yet. "There we go." Harley smiled as she put the finishing touches on her son's face. "Doesn't even look like the same person, wouldn't you say, Selena?"

"You did a fantastic job. I can't believe the difference." The two women gleamed over the pissed off teen for what seemed to him like an eternity. "You hungry?" she asked Harley, "C'mon, I'll make us some lunch." She looked back at the boy and spoke sternly, "You stay here Jack, we don't want Plio seeing you yet and ruining the surprise." He huffed a "Fine." and sank back into his chair. "We'll bring you something back." Jack watched them leave the room, listening to their footsteps until they became silent. The moment he was in the clear, Jack quickly uncovered the mirror. The image looking back at him caused him to fall back into his chair. It looked nothing like him; well, besides the hair and eyes. He wasn't ugly, though, that was for damn sure. There was no way anyone at that dance was going to recognize him; which made him feel better, knowing he needn't worry and he'd be able to enjoy his night with Plio…He paused in deep thought, then something cam to him '_…Plio?_' Jack's gaze instantly went to the room's clock, it was almost four. '_Fuck! Plio's going to be home any minute! What the hell are they doing?_!' He ran for the door to yell for his mom and Mrs. Selena, but then he heard it; the sweet voice of the girl whom he loved so much.

"Hey, mom." Plio said, walking through the front door.

"Hey, honey. How was your day?"

"It was alright, kinda a drag." She strolled past her mom, not noticing the woman standing next to her, and headed up the stairs. "I'm gonna go start my homework," she called back, "we can finish my dress when I'm don—" she stopped halfway up the steps, and slowly turned around, bug-eyed at their guest. Plio recognized her immediately; she'd known this woman for seventeen years. "I…uh…um…"

"Hiya, Plio." Harleen Quinzel greeted her in a cheery, kind of creepy, voice. "How are ya?"

"Um…good…"

"What? Are you the only one that can tell your friends where you live?" Her mother asked with a sarcastic curiosity. Her daughter stood on the staircase, mouth slightly ajar not knowing what to say.

"Don't worry, my husband doesn't know who you are." Harleen assured the young girl.

"Okay…but…if you're here…where's—"

"Hiding." They answered together, knowing exactly who she was thinking of.

"You mean here?" She questioned with an excited smile.

"Yes."

"Where?"

"Can't tell you." Her smile disappeared.

"Why not?"

"Because," Selena said, "he just got done with his 'transformation.'" Plio stared puzzlingly at her mother. "We made him look like a normal human being."

"Just BOOSTING my self-esteem, aren't you?!" He shouted from the dressing room.

"Shut-up, Jack!" they all shouted back. The youngest Wayne hurried down the steps, peering around the staircase and down the hall, then back to her mother. "When can I see him?" She more or less begged, the anticipation was too great to stand. Selena patted her daughter's head and smiled kindly.

"Tomorrow night. Now get upstairs." With a '_hmpf_ ' Plio rolled her eyes and headed back up to her room when they heard it. The outside door at the other end of the house had opened. Heavy footsteps began to make their way through the house.

"Shit. Go. Hurry! Back into the dressing room." Selena whispered to Harleen, pushing her in the direction of the hallway; she made it into the room just as Bruce Wayne strolled in. He looked at his wife, then his daughter, then back to his wife.

"What are you two hiding?" He asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"Nothing," his wife replied, Plio nodding in agreement. Just then there was a slight crash from a room down the hall. Selena and Plio smiled as if nothing had happened.

"What was that?" He asked smirking and nodding towards the direction of the noise.

"The homeless guy that I'm having an affair with," his wife smirked back.

"Well, don't contract an STD. I don't feel like getting one. And try not to have too much fun, I wouldn't want you thinking someone else is _better_." Selena snaked her arms around Bruce's neck with a smile ad kissed him sweetly, giggling into his soft lips.

"Don't be such a dork, Bruce, you know good and well you're the only man that can make me moan," she murmured in a seductive voice against his warm breath.

"Oh…My…**GOD**! I'M RIGHT FRICKING _**HERE**_! YOU TWO ARE DISCUSTTING!" Their daughter stood on the steps, flabbergasted at the sight before her and what she had heard. It was something no kid of any age wants to hear their parents say. "I'M GOING TO BE SCARRED FOR LIFE!" Disgusted and needing to throw up, she ran up the stairs to her room, slamming the door behind her.

The two adults, completely dumbfounded at their daughter's sudden outburst, continued to stare at the ridiculously large staircase as if waiting for Plio to reappear. "Was it something we said?"

"I don't know, I've never understood teenagers." Bruce scratched his head and shrugged his shoulders. The two shared a laugh, a kiss, and parted ways; he to his at-home office, and her to the dressing room. Tomorrow was a big day for her baby girl and she had to make sure everything was perfect.

_x__**X**__x_

There was no other kid in the city of Gotham that was nearly as excited about the dance as the clown prince, and Plio could clearly see that. She hadn't said a single word for forty-five minutes as Jack ranted on. Never in his life had he talked this much on the phone, especially all at once.

Plio's face had begun to ache from the constant smiling, but she couldn't help it, he was so adorable when he got this happy. "…and I can safely say that my outfit fucking rocks. How 'bout yours?" Again, she smiled.

"You'll drop dead from its gorgeousness…ess…ness…"

He laughed. "I'm sure I will. You'd look great in anything." Plio was happy he could see her at that moment she knew her face had turned beat red.

"Thanks. I'm sure you will, too."

"I know I will. I'll be the envy of every dude there."

" 'Cause of your clothes." It was more of a statement than a question.

"That and 'cause I'll have you on my arm." She turned even redder; to anyone unaware of the phone glued to her ear, they'd probably think she was suffocating. It was a little awkward. Jack had never once talked to her like that, flirting. He was such a sweetheart under his jackasseyness, and she loved that about him.

Not wanting her blushing to show through her voice, she decided to avoid making anymore compliments. "So, I'm like, just a trophy?" she said in mock anger.

"Well, duh." 

"Ah, you ass."

"Aww, would it make you feel better if I said you were a big **shiny** trophy?"

"Maybe…" she said in a 'pouty' tone.

"Too bad, mom always said not to lie…unless it's to a cop."

"ER! YOU ASSHOLE!" She shouted and disconnected their call, more playfully then angrily. Her cell phone rang. "What?!"

"You hung up on me!"

"And for good reason!"

"It's not my fault you're PMSing!" '_No he didn't_.' she thought.

"Ooo-oo, if you weren't my date for tomorrow I'd frickin kill you."

"And if I wasn't your date for tomorrow I'd be running like hell."

"Damn straight. Now, get some sleep, I don't want you tired at the dance." 

"Righty-o, my princess."

"Bite me, Whitey."

"Fine, but not 'til after the dance."

"ERR! YOU PUMPUSS JERK!" ::dial tone:: Jack grinned; he loved getting her mad, that was when she was cutest. But what was up with that? Wasn't he supposed to be keeping his feelings on the down-low? Maintaining his love for her a secret seemed to be getting harder and harder. But there wasn't time to worry about that, he needed to get to bed.

Jack wasn't sure he'd be able to get a good night's sleep; he was too excited about the next day, and being able to hold Plio close to him for hours. He closed his eyes, forcing sleep to take him, then something struck his mind; if he was going to need all the sleep he could get, there was no way in hell he was waking up early. Jack rose from his bed and made his way to his only window. Taking a quick glance at the school, he shut the damn curtains.

_x__**X**__x_

Okay, there you go, chapter 4. What'd you think? Hoped you liked it…no, hoped you LOVED it. I know it was a lil on the random side, but I promise, next chapter will be a LOT more interesting.

And thanks to all who took time out their day to review and tell me what they thought, and thanks to those who put me on their favorite lists! That's AWESOME!

I'll try to update again, as soon as possible, but I've got two major projects due this week so it'll probably be in about two weeks.

Catch ya later!

Dyno!


	5. The Dance: Feelings Made Known

"C'mon, tell me his name

Okay, here it is, chapter five, I'm on a roll! WOOT WOOT!! I know y'all are excited, cuz I am…at least, I _hope_ y'all are excited…please be excited.

ANYWAY, I feel the need to warn you, yes you, that it does get a little raunchy in this chapter, it's not R yet, but still. Just to prepare y'all. And go easy on me please; this is my first attempt at any kind of love related scene. But I think it went pretty good. So, go and enjoy. Oh, and BTW, I still do NOT own Batman or anything by DC Comics, but I hope to one day work for them making my own comic book……oh, I dare to dream.

**Chapter 5: The Dance, Feelings Made Known**

_x__**X**__x_

"C'mon, tell me his name." Charlie begged through the phone.

"It's…uh…J-J…" she had to think of something fast, "…John…heh." '_Oh, brilliant, nice cover, Plio._'

"…hmm…you sounded like you were unsure about that." '_Shit!_'

"Well, I always wanna call him…Joe…cuz that's…his brother's…name…heh." There was a pause on the other end of the phone.

"Oh, well that's understandable." '_Really?_' "Soo-oo, is he **hot**?" Plio's face turned beat red. She'd never thought to Jack as '_hot_' before, but things were starting to change.

"I guess, yeah." 

"Is he sweet?"

"Y-yeah." This was awkward.

"Jealous?"

"A little, but not so much that it's annoying, it's actually kinda cute." She thought back to how jealous he appeared to be when she had told him about her date with Andrew.

"Aww, how old is he?"

"Seventeen, he's only a day older than me."

"Oh my God, now that is cute."

"Yeah, okay, whatever. I'll talk to you later tonight, I've gotta finish getting ready."

"Wait!" Plio sighed, anxious to get ready.

"What?"

"One more question."

"Shoot."

"Do you love him?"

Her body went numb. Of course she didn't love him, that'd be stupid. He's Jackendaboks Napier! Her number one enemy from the time she was born. The guy that causes so much trouble for her…and protects her…keeps her safe…is always there when she needs him…NO! He's an ass…who just happens to be her best friend. But that did not mean she loved him! No way! Never! Not at all! Right?

"Hey! Yo! Plio! You there?"

"I…I have to go."

"But you didn't ans—" She cut her cell phone off and sat it down on the table somewhat in a daze. All of the sudden she didn't feel so good. Just then there was a knock at her door and her mother poked her head in.

"Plio?" Noticing her daughter's unusual paleness, she went to her immediately and placed a hand on her forehead. "You feeling okay, honey?" her voice showed her concern.

"I'm fine." Plio answered, shooing her mother's hand away. Selena, knowing she was lying but not wanting to press on, nodded and motioned for her to stand up.

"Here, put it on." She said as she handed her daughter her dress. "I think it's just right." She didn't put on; she just stared at it in her hand, playing with the lace. "Plio?"

"You trust me, right, Mom?" she asked, still looking at the dress.

"What—"

"You trust me, right?" she asked again, now staring her mom in the eyes, a strange look upon her face.

"Yes," she said slowly, unsurely, "of course I do."

"And you trust my judgment, right?"

"Yes, you know that." Selena was beginning to grow nervous.

"So then, if I wanted to date someone that others wouldn't necessarily think was 'good enough' for me, you wouldn't question the relationship, right?"

It was almost as if she was pleading, begging for forgiveness. Closing her eyes, Selena chuckled to herself, she knew exactly what this was all about; mother's instinct. She took a step forward and looked her daughter directly in the eyes. "If you want to date Jackendaboks, it's fine with me. I know you can take care of yourself." Plio's jaw hit the floor.

"What makes you think it's him I want to date…and don't call him that."

"Well I don't really see you dating a normal boy." Again, her jaw hit the floor.

"That's horrible, and so mean! I'm glad I'm not suicidal!"

"It's true though."

"No, it's not."

"Name one normal boy you'd consider going out with."

"Uh…" This was tough, but there had to be someone. She thought hard, thinking of every boy she knew and knew of. Damn, this was tough. "…oo-oo-oo, Nick Whiskey."

"He's gay." she paused for a long moment.

"…well, just because I can't think of anyone doesn't mean there's not a normal boy I'd date."

"Fine, whatever you say. Now put the damn dress on."

"Okay! Jeez! Turn around." Selena turned her back to Plio, who began to change. "I'm not sure I even want to go now, you've got me all depressed." She said from somewhere inside her dress.

"Too bad, you have to go. After all the hard work Harley and I put into this, you have no choice, and besides, you don't want to break poor Jackie's heart, do you? He's looking forward to this more than anyone else." Plio was silent. Her mother had a point. She'd never seen Jack more excited about anything in his entire life. Of course she didn't mean what she said about not going, but just the thought of crushing that excitement made her feel noxious. "Something wrong?" Her mother asked as she helped put the dress down. "Why so quiet?"

"I was just thinking."

Selena stood back and studied the dress. Picking up the shoes, she held them out for Plio to take and put on. Once she did, she again studied how it all looked. "Hmmm…still an inch too long." She got her portable sewing kit and knelt in front of Plio. "Stand up straight, arms by your side." Her mother got to work, pinning and repining, putting the last touches on the hand-made dress. Plio's mind began to wander again, it was going to be a little weird seeing him looking normal, not to mention awkward since she hadn't seen him at all that entire week. In fact, the last time they were together he…her face turned crimson, just as her mother looked up. "Thinking something naughty, are we?" She teased, causing her daughter to turn even redder.

"Holy crap! What kind of a mother are you?! You don't ask those kinds of questions!"

"Of course I do. Now tell me what you were thinking."

"No."

"Yes."

"No!"

"Plio!"

"I was thinking of something Jack did!" She yelled, throwing her hand up.

"What did he do?"

"Nothing."

"Tell me."

"No."

"Damnit, Plio, tell me!"

"HE KISSED ME! OKAY?!" she cried out in frustration, then slapped both hands over her mouth as she realized what she had said. Her mother, now completely speechless, dropped the pins, needles, and thread in her hands while gawking, looking up, at her daughter.

"W-w-when?" Selena managed to croak out.

"Last Saturday." Plio replied quietly as she lowered her hands a little. "We were checking out this underground room thing and when we came back out, well, he kissed me. It wasn't long or anything, 'cause a bat flew out from somewhere and you know how he goes ballistic around those things. Selena honestly didn't know what to say. She has always known that Jack did indeed care about Plio, but she never thought in a million years _he'd_ be the one to make the first move. Not liking the uncomfortable silence, Plio decided to continue. "I haven't actually seen him since Saturday, and when we talk on the phone he never brings it up." The hurt was loud and clear in the young superhero's voice.

"What are you so upset about? Of course he's not going to say anything." Plio looked down at her mother with shock at her lack of compassion. "Jackendaboks probably thinks that you think he's a moron for doing that, and if he doesn't bring it up, you won't be mad at him." She smiled and shook her head, '_Boy doesn't think twice about running from the cops or getting into fights with us, but he's terrified about showing any feeling toward you…and bats._'

"What makes you say that?"

"Because I just know." Selena pulled the vanity chair over and took a seat, taking Plio's hands in hers, "Listen, Plio, sweetie, Jack has never been close to anyone or had anyone give a rat's ass about him, other than his mother…except you. You have been his only friend for his entire life…thus far. That's why he's never let you get seriously injured; he doesn't want to lose the closest thing he has to a normal life."

"What's that?"

"Your friendship…and your love." The knots in Plio's stomach tightened. Could what her mother had said be true? "If you care about him like he cares for you, perhaps _you_ should be the one to make the next move."

"Why are you so okay with this?"

"Because," Selena laughed, "I put your dad in a similar situation. Now, give me the dress so I can finish it." With a smile and feeling slightly better, Plio did as she was told.

"So you really don't care if I date him?" She asked as her mother headed out of the room.

"Not as long as you don't come home limping." Her mother answered and shut the door, still laughing. Plio stared at the door, dumbfounded, what was she talking about? Then it hit her, her eyes grew wide and her cheeks turned red.

"……YOU'RE SICK!"

Plio fell back onto her bed with a sigh. What should she do? There was not point in lying to herself anymore, she loved him and nothing was going to change that. And if he really loved her like her mother claimed he did, then maybe it'd all be okay. He was the only person who truly understood her, someone she didn't have to keep her secret from. '_Not to mention he __**does**__ have a nice body._' The thought caused her to be overwhelmed by giggles and redness. She never thought she'd be thinking of Jack like that, but she could help it. He was so cute, and so sweet, when he wanted to be, and tonight would be her chance to show her feeling to him.

Only one problem: how were they going to get him passed her father?

_x__**X**__x_

The past few hours were nerve-racking for both teenagers, getting ready and making sure they were perfect for each other. This was going to be a special and awesome night for them and there wasn't a force in the world that could ruin it…well, maybe one.

"John what?" Bruce Wayne, like Plio figured he would, was being suspicious, annoyingly so.

"John…lich…ten…stein," she smiled up at the man before her, adverting her eyes.

"John Lichtenstein?"

"Heh…heh…yeah, stupid name, isn't it. Ha haha ha ha."

"Yes, well, I've never hear of him."

"There's hundreds of thousands of people in this city, dad, I assure you that you don't know every single one."

"Even so, Plio, I've never even hear of that name. Where's he from?"

"Queens."

"How do you know him?"

"He's Bre's cousin."

"And his age?"

"Seventeen." Bruce cocked an eyebrow and crossed his arms. He knew his daughter was up to something, but decided not to press on.

"Alright, but don't leave until I have a chance to speak with him." Just then the doorbell rang and Plio swallowed hard, which earned a look from her father. She smiled and went to the door, fear boiling in the pit of her stomach. '_Please let this work._'

She grabbed the doorknob, turned it, and opened it slowly, cautiously; immediately freezing when she saw him. "Hey, Plio." Jack said with a genuine smile. He looked her up and down, and blushed furiously. "You—uh—you look—uh—beautiful," he barely managed to croak out. She blushed and smiled back.

"You look pretty good yourself." Yeah right, who was she trying to kid? The boy looked HOT. He was wearing black, slightly baggy slacks, matching black jacket, and a white button-up shirt lined in black. "Did my mom make this?" she whispered to him.

"Yeah, does it look okay?"

"Looks hot." Again, he smiled, but it was quickly replaced with fear and nervousness. Plio looked up to see her dad towering over her.

"So, you must be John Lichtenstein?" Jack stared at the large man, then Plio, then back to the large man.

"Um…yes?"

"Well, please, come in." Bruce turned on his heel and strolled back into the foyer, as did Jack and Plio, who was being glared at by her 'date.' He stopped once he was far enough in and faced the two teenagers. "How long have you known my daughter?" Jack gulped and took a deep breath.

"A little while. I've met her a few times over the past year or two when I came to visit my cousin……Bre."

"So you don't go to their school?"

"Um, no, sir. I'm homeschooled, and I've never been to a dance before, so Plio said she'd take me to this one."

"I see," he said as he scratched his chin, "Tell me, John; what are your intentions?"

"Dad!"

"What? It's my job as your father to know these things, so, please, what are your intentions?"

"For what?" Jack asked, a bit confused.

"My daughter."

"Oh, well, I intend for us to eat some food, dance a little, maybe get some punch and have a good time before coming back home." he said honestly. Jack, being new to all this, had no idea what he meant or why Plio was giggling.

"You are so cute," she said through her laughter. Bruce opened his mouth to saying something but was cut off by a kind voice.

Leave them alone, Bruce," Selena commanded as she walked into the room, "he's obviously a good kid." She looked over at the terrified and terrorized Jack and smiled warmly. "You look very nice, John."

"Thank you, Mrs. Wayne. And you look very lovely." He grinned, feeling a lot better now that she was there.

"Aw, thank you."

"So, can we go?"

"Yes, but your curfew is nine." Bruce declared.

"What?!"

"Don't' listen to him, honey, your curfew is one."

"What?!" She held a finger up silencing her husband.

"I'll even give you an extra thirty minutes to get home, but no later."

"Thanks, Mom!" Plio ran up to her mother and enveloped her in a bear hug, "You couldn't change his hair?" She whispered in the ear furthest from her father.

"We ran out of time, but at least we gave him some contacts." Plio looked back at Jack and his new green eyes, then back to her mother.

"Good point." Plio grabbed Jack's arm and dragged him out the door as she to her parents, "Bye!" Selena wrapped her arms around her husband's chest.

"They look so cute."

"You think they'll be fine?" He asked, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

"Of course." They were quiet for a moment, starting at the door.

"Tell me something, Selena."

"What?"

"That was Jackendaboks, wasn't it?"

"What is it with everyone giving me these retarded ass names?" Jack asked as he opened the door to the Wayne's limacine for her to get in.

"Well, I had started to say 'Jack' so I changed it to John."

"And Lichtenstein?"

"I got that from an old movie I had just been watching and it was the first thing that came to mind."

"You couldn't have been watching something better?" He grunted sliding in next to her, shutting the door. Plio snaked her arm through his and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Forget about it and try to have a good time."

"Oh, I'm gonna have a good time, no matter what, but I still hate that name." Plio laughed and held on tighter.

"You're such a dork." The rest of the short car ride to the school Plio explained to him why he couldn't bring up himself, as in Jackendaboks, in any conversations, and if someone else brought him up, play dumb.

"But why?"

"Because, they may catch on. Your hair _is_ still green and black. Luckily it'll be a bit dark in the gym." The car slowed to a stop and Jack opened the door, sliding out first, and held out his hand.

"You think they'll recognize me?" He asked as he helped her out.

"Not a chance.

"Does Bre know to tell them I'm her cousin?"

"No, I'm gonna tell them you're a friend of the family. Now shut up about it."

"Okay, but can I ask you something else?"

"What?"

"If you all are so rich you can afford to have two proms," he murmured, "why do you have them in the school gym?"

"Because we're also cheap." The two took each other's hands and walked through the doors of the gym. Almost at once they were bombarded by nosey students wanting to know who Plio Wayne had brought to the dance. She introduced him and he answered a few short questions before Charlie made her way through the crowd, yelling at all to them to 'back off;' she could be slightly intimidating at times.

"So, John—was it?—nice to see you again." She shook his hand like she had done before, and like before, Plio didn't like it.

"Okay, time to dance." She took Jack's hand, ending the hand shaking, and pulled him out to the dance floor.

"Aww, am I detecting a bit of envy?"

"Shut up, I'm not jealous, why would I be jealous?"

'_She's so cute when she's mad._' He suddenly stopped, spinning her around. "Wait, hold on, I haven't eaten all damn day, can we _please_ get some food?" Plio sighed and motioned for him to follow her. While Jack got his food, she went to find them a table and was suddenly struck with a strange feeling of unease. It felt as if someone was watching, waiting, and she couldn't get it out of her mind. Jack sat down beside her and began eating without saying a word; halfway through his meal he noticed she hadn't spoken once since he sat down. Looking up from his plate he saw her staring oddly at the table. Jack reached over and placed a hand on hers, "Hey, Plio, you okay?"

"I've got a bad feeling."

"About what?"

"Dunno, but it feels like something's coming, like something bad is about to happen to happen to Gotham." Jack pulled her hand up to his lips and kissed it softly.

"Look at me," she lifted her head, "nothing's going to happen to the city, at least not tonight, so let's go have some fun." He said, tilting his head towards the dance floor. She smiled and nodded in agreement, and they made their way out into the crowd of dancing teens.

They danced to a few up beat, fast songs, laughing and singing along. Neither of them were the best dancers, but they didn't care. Jack, from what Plio could tell, was having more fun than anyone else in the building, and he deserved it. Sure he was a criminal and the son of the Joker, but he was still kind-hearted. She watched him as he danced; he was like a little kid that had just got the most awesome gift ever.

The music calmed and changed into a slow song, an old one called "If You're Not the One." Plio slipped her arms around his neck as he wrapped his around her waist. "You know, if you had asked me a few years back where I thought we'd be right about now, I'd never would have guessed here." He whispered to her.

"Likewise." She murmured back and laid her head on his chest. He kissed the top of her head and rested his chin atop her hair. Holding her close and tight, he sang alone with the song.

She knew it was cliché, but Plio never wanted this night to end, this moment, this feeling. Never had she felt happier, safer, than she did right then in his arms, their breathing and heart beats perfectly in sync. She listened to him sing the song, listening to the lyrics, '_"For I love you, whether it's wrong or right." Hmm, how ironic yet appropriate and so true,_' she thought to herself, '_I wonder…_' Sliding her hands down to his chest, she pushed them apart. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Plio looked him straight in his eyes, and asked, "Why did you kiss me?" Jack was speechless; he hadn't really been expecting that. In all honesty, he'd hoped she had forgotten about it.

"I…uh…I don't know." He replied, looking down at the floor.

"Yes you do. Would you do it again if given the chance?"

He did not answer. He didn't know what to say to her; the truth? Or what he should say as her enemy, like it was just for kicks. What would she do if he told her the truth? Would she love him back even if it would put her in danger? Make her look bad? Would it be better never to tell—her lips took his. _Hers_ took _his_, he had been expecting **that** either. A little shocked at first, his body slowly relaxed and he leaned into the kiss. His hands snaked their way around her back and pulled her close to him once again. The action caused her to giggle a little which allowed him the access he so desperately wanted. He slipped his tongue into the warmness of her mouth, exploring every inch of it.

She gasped, but did not stop him, instead she mimicked his movements, sliding her tongue into his mouth. They played a game of tongue war, Jack being the victor. He brought her even closer, deepening their kiss, but only for a moment. Out of nowhere he pulled away, putting space between them. The two, breathing profusely, stared into one another's eyes; one with a look of sorrow, the other with a look of hurt and confusion. "I…can't…" he breathed and, turning around, pushed through the crowd of people and the doors of an empty hallway. Plio, wanting an explanation, followed close behind.

"What's with you?!" She bellowed as she burst through the doors.

"Nothing." He retorted bleakly, his back to her.

"Something has to be!" She shouted; the pain in her voice making his stomach cringe.

"Just leave me alone." He spoke just barely above a whisper.

"No. I won't." Jack grabbed locks of his hair in annoyance and growled. Spinning around she stormed up to her and point a finger in her face.

"You always ere a persistent little BRAT."

"Yeah, but it's gotten me pretty far, hasn't it?!" She sneered, aggravating the hell out of the clown prince.

"You know, I honest to God do **not** get you. At all! Why in HELL would you want to be with me?!"

"I honestly don't know! I mean," she pushed him backwards; "you are a bastard."

"At least I'm not," he pushed her back, "a bitch."

"I'd rather be a bitch," she pushed him once more, "than emo."

"You know what?" he laughed shaking his finger at her.

"What—" **BAM** Jack plunged her into the lockers behind her, pinning her there with his hands, holding her on either side of her head. With a quick and insane grin, he smashed his lips back onto hers. It was a fiery, earth-shattering kiss that just about sent them both soaring right over the edge.

Jack slid his hands down her arms, and down her sides; God, they felt so good. He placed a hand on either hip and lifted her up. She giggled and turned the favor by wrapping her legs around his waist.

A look of hunger filled their eyes as a lustful need grew between them. He pushed her deeper into the lockers, making her moan at the feeling of him against her. He kissed her again, but softly, and then moved downward; leaving a trail of kisses along her jaw and collarbone to her exposed cleavage.

Plio gasped as he started to kiss, suck, and nip at her chest, spending an amount of time in the valley between her breasts. She lifted her head and arched her back, grabbing fistfuls of think green-and-black locks of his silky hair. The sensation she got from the touch of his soft lips against her skin was more than she could take. Her fingers tightened around his hair, making him grunt.

He moved one of his hands down to her outer-thigh, gripping it firmly and gliding his palm up her leg. "Jack…" she breathed, and laid her head on his, her face buried in his hair. She felt his fingers find their way under the hem of her dress, continuing moving up until they found the lining of her panties, slithering his fingers around it. He began to pull on them when she clutched his arm, "Jack." He stopped and looked up pleadingly and sorrowfully. "What are we doing?" She whispered tenderly to him with a loving smile.

"I don't know," He panted, returning the smile, "but it like it." Just then the hallway door flew open revealing a hysterical Charlie and her equally hysterical date, neither noticing the two people in front of them. Jack instantly let go of Plio, who slid down till her feet touch the floor.

"Oh, hey there. We…uh…interrupting?" Charlie implied with a sly, drunken smirk; she'd obviously been drinking…a lot.

"No." They answered in unison, sounding like little kids caught with their hands in the cookie jar.

"Really?"

"Yep, we were just talking and now we're going back to dance. C'mon Jac-John." She took him by the wrist and pulled him back into the gym.

"Nice save." He picked at her.

"Shut up." She barked back. He stopped, twirling her around, and dragged her up to him. He gazed at her with an amused smirk, annoying her. "What?" He kissed her soft, pink lips then her forehead with affection.

"I love you." He spoke softly against her skin.

She smiled and murmured back, "I love you too, Jack." He kissed her forehead again she laid her head back on his rightful place upon his chest as she placed his back atop her 'hair.'

"From a distance, this wig looks real, but up close it feels like wool—"

"It does not, screw you."

"Now why would I screw myself when _we_ can do the real thing?" She stepped on his foot. "Ow, what?"

"Nasty-ass-whore."

"I'm supposed to be, I'm a seven-teen year old boy."

"We're almost eight-teen."

"Even worse."

"Yeah, well, if and when we do 'do it,' I assure you it won't be for a long while."

"It will make it all the more special when it happens." She laid her head back down.

"Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"…have you ever been with someone?" she asked, just barely above a whisper. Jack grinned like a damn fool.

"Have I ever been with someone? Have _I _ever been with someone? Have _**I**_ ever—no I ain't been with someone. Who in the hell could I do it with? Tell me one person that would do it with me, son of the Joker, willingly. And prostitutes don't count; I may be a sex-craving teenager, but I'm not an STD-craving teenager. So tell me who."

"……Charlie."

"……that was mean." They broke into a fit of laughter, earning some looks from the other students. "No, P., I haven't been with anyone." He kissed her again, "now shut up and dance."

…_a few hours later…_

The limo cam to a stop in front of the Wayne residency and the two love-stricken teens parted, badly needing some air. "Damn, we're here." Plio pouted between pants. Jack leaned over and planted another kiss on her satin lips.

"We can spend the entire day together tomorrow…er…today. I'll cause a shit-load of trouble. I'll rob a bank or something, 'kay?" He said as he opened the door for the ump-teenth time.

"Sounds like a plan. Now get the hell out my car." She pushed him out with a laugh and followed, but her laughter soon stopped. The moment her feet touch the ground, she felt her body tense up. '_There's that feeling again._' Her eyes scanned each and every surrounding tree. "What's wrong?"

"I got that feeling again. Like someone—_something_ is watching us. Something evil."

"Trust me, Plio, I'm the most evil thing in this city, well, most _active_ evil thing. So you've got nothing to worry about."

"But—"

"No buts, let's get you inside." He took her hand and led her up the steps to the door, which opened as soon as they reached it.

"Thirty minutes _early_…pretty good." Plio and Jack beamed at her mother.

"You two have fun?" Her father asked, appearing beside his wife.

"Yes, sir." Jack quickly answered, cutting Plio off. "We went straight there, ate some, danced some, ate some more, danced some more, and came straight home." He finished with a big, nervous, retarded smile.

"No need to worry, I believe you, Jack."

Plio went pale.

"Thank you, sir…" so did Jack, "…but my name is John. John Lichtenstein. I don't know any Jacks. Haha ha ha hahaha haha ha."

"He knows who you are, Jack…the hair gave you away," Selena said with failure in her voice.

"Please don't kill me," he pleaded as he began to back up.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Jack, you haven't given me a reason to."

"Yes I have."

"Well alright then." Jack threw his hands up in defense and backed up even more.

"Ahh! I mean, no I haven't!" Bruce shook his head and sighed.

"I'm going to bed, honey, you can tell him the good news without me." He disappeared back into the house, being watched intently by a scared shitless Jack.

Plio, who had, till now, been completely speechless, smiled and clapped her hands together in excitement. "Wait, he doesn't mean—"

"Yes."

"So he's going to be—"

"Yes." Plio squealed and lunged at her mother, embracing her in a bone crushing hug.

"What? What's going on? What am I'm going to be doing? Someone tell me. I wanna know!" Selena gave her daughter the go head, and Plio faced her long time friend-turned-lover with a dorky grin. "What?"

"We're going shopping tomorrow."

"What?"

"For school supplies."

"…what?"

"For you."

"……what?"

"I think he's in shock." Selena muttered to her daughter. Plio rolled her eyes and waltzed up to the boy, so she was standing as close to him as possible without touching him and spoke slowly.

"You…are…go…ing…to…school…on…Mon—" He cut her off with a kiss.

"ARE YOU FUCKING **SERIOUS**?!" He bellowed gleefully. "NO FREAKING WAY! THAT'S ROCKS!" He laughed and embraced his girlfriend. '_Never have I seen someone so damn excited about school._' Selena thought to herself. "So, I'll be able to act like a normal kid?" He asked with desperation and hope in his voice. "And possibly make…friends?" Plio nodded, still wearing that dorky grin. "HA!" He kissed her again, wrapping his arms around her and spinning them both.

"Ahem. " They stopped spinning. "As much as I hate to break up this happy moment I should warn you that we'll be shopping for quite a while tomorrow, so go straight home and get some rest. As for you," she pointed to her daughter, "get your ass upstairs and get to bed." Plio kissed Jack on the cheek and he let her down. They said their good-byes and Plio followed her mother into their house.

Jack looked up into the night sky and breathed deep. His lungs filled with the cool October breeze as he recalled the events of the night. He blushed fiercely when he remembered the incident in the hallway. Tonight had truly been the best night of his isolated existence. Making his way down their driveway, Jack headed back into the blackness of the night filled city.

Unbeknownst to him, a pair of green-glowing eyes followed close behind.

_x__**X**__x_

So…did y'all like it? I did!...course, I'm probably just bias. I'll have the next chapter up as soon as I can; it's gonna be a busy quarter at school with the end of the year getting close and my graduation right around the corner. But I'll squeeze in as much writing time as I can. Promise.

Until next time,

Dyno


	6. Trouble Emerges: Enter Penoso

Whoever was following him, sucked at it

OKAY! HERE WE GO! CHAPTER SIX! CAN I GET A WOOT WOOT! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! CAN YOU?! WELL BELIEVE IT CUZ HERE IT IS!!

Now, I still don't know Batman or the Joker or Catwoman or Harley Quinn, but I do own my characters, Jackendaboks, Plio, and Penoso Soffrire (you'll meet him in this chapter). I guarantee you guys that one day this will be a comic book and you can all say y'all were the first to read it!

And thank y'all for all the awesome reviews. Coast, you made my day with that review for the Author's note, I didn't think anyone liked this story so much that the note would do that to someone. YOU ROCK!!

Oh and if you didn't read my own review, all the people in this story look like they did in Batman: TAS…only older. So…yeah.

And to inzie23, unfortunately, there isn't any Bruce/Selena in this chapter, but I'll make sure there is in the next, just for you.

Now go and enjoy the chapter that I work SOOOOO hard on. And I really hope y'all like it.

**Chapter 6: Trouble Emerges: Enter Penoso**

_x__**X**__x_

Whoever was following him, sucked at it. They couldn't go an entire minute without making some kind of a noise, and it was getting annoying. Jack listened carefully for their footsteps and movement. They were too heavy to be female, and too fast to be someone of plus-size. "He's on the rooftops," Jack whispered to himself as his 'green' eyes searched the surrounding buildings. '_Bastard thinks he can follow me and get away with it? The fucker's got another thing coming._' Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a small square package of which contained a small cloth like a moist toilette. He began whipping off his 'make-up' as he turned and headed into the darkness of an alley where he waited, silent as the dead.

The stranger, losing sight of the young villain, climbed down from the rooftop and onto the sidewalk. Cautiously he stepped into the shadows and began to move swiftly down the ominous alley. His violently glowing green eyes shown brilliantly through the blackness of the night, they weren't eerie or even frightening, but something about them made Jack a bit restless.

The man stopped directly in front of the hidden clown prince, his back to him, '_amateur,_' in absolute silence, Jack arose from behind his stalker and grinned. "Heh." In an split second, the man found himself pinned, face first, against the brick wall. "Who the FUCK are you?!" The man did not answer. "I asked you a fucking question!"

"I am a friend."

"I don't have friends, so try again." 

"Please listen, young prince, I am a friend, an ally of yours and my people have a proposition for you."

"Not interested," he growled into the man's exposed ear, pressing the side of his face against the hard, cold wall.

"Then I must force you to comply." Jack began to speak but his words were replaced with a cry of pain when his hostage pushed back with an unexpected force, slamming the teen into the opposite wall. "Please, Prince Jackendaboks, I do not wish to engage in combat with you."

"Too bad." Jack jumped up and, using the dumpster as leverage, spun through the air, kicking the man across the face. His opponent crashed into the ground as the clown prince landed in a crouching position, "And don't call me that!" Standing back up with a sense of pride and satisfaction, he stepped over his dazed victim and headed back out of the alleyway.

Something hard collided into the back of Jack's legs with unnecessary strength.

With a yelp Jack hit the concrete, hard, his head and back in a puddle of water. He looked up just in time to see the back of the man's foot coming down and rolled out of the way. Growling with irritation, Jack flipped back up to his feet as the other man scurried to his feet as well. "You don't like to listen, do you, young prince?"

"Do you _know_ who my parents are?!...and don't me that either, it's getting old." Jack was very clearly pissing off the elder man, and his sarcasm and lack of cooperation wasn't helping. He kicked at the teen but was easily blocked. Jack, in returned, slammed his powerful fists into his attacker's jaw. Falling back onto the wall, he felt around for a weapon, and found an iron rod. "C'mon, old man," Jack taunted, holding is arms out, "show me what you got."

He lunged at the open Jack, swinging the rod with immense fury, but the attack was thwarted when Jack grabbed the so-called weapon. "Pathetic," he spat in disgust, and gave an upper-cut to the man. Once again he hit the ground. Jack picked up the rod, which had fallen to his feet, with an insane smile of excitement, and held it over his head tightly in both hands, "Let's have some fun, shall we?" As he began to bring the weapon down on the man, someone grabbed his arm. "The fuck?!" he shouted and another person grasped his other arm. "Get the fuck off of me!" They yanked him back and held firmly against the wall. "I said get the FUCK off!"

"My, my, you truly do have such a foul mouth," the man said as he strained to get up.

"Oh, I'll show you a _foul_ mouth." Jack snapped as he struggled against his human prison.

"That won't be necessary," he said with a smile, stepping up to Jack, "I usually don't tolerate disrespect, but seeing how I did not approach you in the best way, I'll excuse it, this time."

"Bite me, you stupid piece of—Oof" Jack gasped for air as the elder's fist sank into his abdomen.

"Forgive me prince, but you left me no choice. Now, my name is Penoso, I am currently in command of our family, and I have a proposal and opportunity for you."

"Like I…give a…shit," he panted, still trying to catch his breath.

"You should. You see, we were once followers of your father," Jack grunted in distaste, but was ignored, "that is until the Joker retired from crime."

"So you had to get a new…hobby, right?" he smirked.

"On the contrary, for years we have been training, becoming stronger, better, in hopes that we can be some day be guided to our victory."

"And…"

"And soon we will be ready to take back the city of which belongs to us!"

"Ri-ight…you do that."

"And with your help—"

"WHOA!" Jack exclaimed, taken by surprise, "Who the hell said I was going to help?!"

"Why should you not?" Penoso asked in utter confusion, "With some slight training you could surpass your father in greatness!"

"Hmpf, I already have…and I wouldn't necessarily call it _greatness_."

"Yes, well, you will be able to prove yourself once we dispose of the late Batman's daughter, _BD._ What a ridiculous name." Jack grinned to himself, '_He does have a point…WAIT!_"

"W-what?" he blinked, "C-come again."

"We must destroy BD." Jack felt his heart begin to break.

"W-what for? I mean, with no rival, then, w-where's the, uh, the fun, right?" He laughed anxiously, dying a little at the thought of Plio's brutal destruction.

"Without her we can take over this city!"

"Yeah, okay, then what?"

"Then we will take over the world!"

"…yeah, okay, then what?" Penoso was silent, at a loss for words. Again, Jack grinned, "My point exactly. Why don't you work on that issue and get back to me later—"

"Why don't you just sleep on it?" Before Jack could say anymore, Penoso unscrewed the lid of a small container, releasing a purplish gas. Jack shook his head, trying to fight the drowsiness, but he soon found the need for sleep far too irresistible, and his heavy eyelids fell, surrounding him in darkness…

Carnage…

…blood…

…death…

His stomach churned at the sight before him: bodies and body parts sprawled out everywhere. It was like a scene out of the most terrifying horror movie. The stench alone was overwhelming and he felt like throwing up. '_Where am I?_' he thought as he took in his surroundings: there were buildings, tall buildings, and they were all busted up with, windows all broken out, and dozens of abandoned cars.

Something caught his eye; way up, at the top of one of the buildings, was the remains of five, large letters. The only readable ones were the first and last: W and E. "Wayne…" he whispered in astonishment, "this is Gotham City…no way."

Backing up, Jack took off down the blood covered street, trying to get away from the unimaginable massacre. He ran as fast as his legs would go, his lungs filling with tainted air. Making a turn, he ran into an alley and froze, unable to breathe or move, and fell to his knees. "No…" his eyes began to water, "…no…God, please…no…NO! **PLIO!**"

There, at the end of the alleyway, up a couple of feet from the crimson stained ground, hang the limp body of a fallen heroine, a pole through her abdomen. Jack punched his fists into the hard ground, tears pouring from his tightly shut, yellow eyes, "Why…" he groaned through angry, gritted teeth, "**WHY?!**"

"J-jack…" His eyes snapped opened, heart stopping. Slowly the young clown lifted his head, cheeks wet, and eyes wide with horror. "J-jack…" she whispered again; he quickly got to his feet and was at her side at once. Placing a hand on either side of her face he tilted her head up to look her in the eyes. She stared at him with those beautiful sapphire eyes that he loved so much, but the pain-filled look that covered her bloody face, made him want to die right then. She tried to speak again but the amount of blood in her lungs and mouth made it too difficult.

"Shhh…don't try to talk," he pleaded, kissing her forehead, "everything is going to be okay. I promise," he managed to choke out between sobs.

"Why?" she murmured, coughing up more blood. "Why, Jackendaboks?" Again, his heart stopped; she only ever spoke his entire name in anger. He took a step back to look her in the face once more, but now she glared, with the utmost intensity. "W-why d-did you do…do this, J-jacken…daboks? I thought you l-loved m-me." He stumbled back, falling, in sheer terror.

"Wha-what? No…I…I couldn't have…I'd never…I—" Then he heard it: a laugh. A laugh so insane it sent a feeling of panic through Jack's body strong enough it almost caused the young teen to collapse. The evil within that laugh was far greater than that of his own father, the Joker. His eyes followed the direction of which it was coming from, and there, standing on the rooftop above them, covered in blood, laughing, was himself. "No…"

"Yes, Jacky Boy! You did this!" the other Jack shouted, pointing at the Jack on the ground. "You caused all this pain and suffering; all this mayhem and death!"

"No! I'd NEVER do anything like this!"

"Ah! But you did! You killed all those innocent people, women and children! You listened to them scream without any remorse or care!"

"No!"

"Yes! Why, you even murdered the only person who ever loved you!" Jack gawked at the pink and black heroine hanging from the wall and his eyes filled with tears yet again. The other Jack smiled sinisterly, and spoke in a low tone, "And you enjoyed it."

"NO!" Jack screamed, now overwhelmed with pure hate, "I did none of that, you did!"

"Ah, but I am _you_, Jacky Boy." Jack's entire body fell numb. "C'MON, JACKENDABOKS NAPIER," he called out with insane laughter, "EMBRACE YOUR TRUE DESTINY!" Jack got to his knees and, looking into a puddle of water, stared at his reflection, "No…" he saw his father, "**NOO-OOO**!"

Jack shot upright into a sitting position, gasping and sweating profusely; he was in his room. It had just been a dream that was all. He ran his hand down his face to wipe away the droplets of sweat with a sigh of relief. "Holy shit," he muttered to himself.

"Had a bad dream?"

"AHH!" Jack cried out in surprise, falling out of his bed, taking the sheets with him. "You okay?" the voice asked. Jack sat up, rubbing his head and scanned his room for the intruder. His eyes softened when they fell upon the smiling face of his beautiful Plio sitting in his desk chair. "Damn, P., you scared the hell out of me…hehe…that rhymed."

"…You are so retarded…So, how are you feeling?"

"Um…good…I guess, but why are you here?" he asked as he continued to rub the back of his head.

"Well, your mom called my mom around three-thirty this morning saying how she had come up to see if you were back and found you knocked out cold on your bed. She said it'd look like you'd been attacked; your clothes were all tattered and covered in mud and dirt."

"And you came right over…that's so sweet," he smirked as he stood up. Plio's cheeks turned bright red and spun around in the chair so her back was too him. Jack, a little puzzled, looked down and realized he was just in a pair of sweat pants. "And you _undressed_ me?" Her jaw hit the floor.

"NO!" she shouted, almost turning around, "They did! You were sweating like a fucking pig when we got here; we had to get you out of that suit!" She still wouldn't look at him and her could help but grin.

"Plio…" he said softly, and lovingly. Slowly she turned back around to see him standing with his arms outstretched, a stupid smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. She stared at his pure white, chiseled chest, becoming even redder in the face. "Gimme a hug."

"What?! No! What?…Get some clothes on!" she hollered, and spun back around, arms crossed.

"C'mon, gimme a hug," he whined

"No."

"Gimme a hug," he more or less demanded, moving closer to her.

"No!"

"Gimme. A hug,"

"Get some. Clothes on." He wrapped his arms tightly around her from behind.

"Hugging you!" She shrieked and struggled to get away, but he had her in a death grip.

"Let go!" He laughed at her effort to get out of his hold and kissed the top of her head. "Damnit, I really hate you sometimes."

"I know," he spoke into her hair, "but I'm just glad you're okay and here with me." He kissed her again.

"Why wouldn't I be?" He did not answer. "Was I in your dream?" Still no answer, she looked up at his face, "Did I die?"

"Hey, so, what time is it?" he asked, wanting to change the subject.

"Six…"

"Oh, good."

"…p.m."

"ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?! I SLEPT ALL DAMN DAY?!" he exclaimed, stepping back.

"Yeah, well, we _tried_ to wake you," she said then shrugged, "but like I said, you were out cold."

"What about going…you know…_shopping_?" just saying the word made Jack shudder, he _hated_ the thought of going, but it needed to be done. Plio waved her hand and shook her head with a smile.

"Don't worry about that, Mom and I went for you" she assured him, "Mom, got a little…happy bought you enough clothes to wear a different outfit everyday for the rest of the school year." She watched his colorless face fill with uncertainty, "It's okay though, I made sure everything she got is in style…and no, nothing is pink…and, yes, there is even some dragon stuff." She winked and he returned her warm smile.

Jack, breathing deep and sighing, sat down on the edge of his bed and tried to grasp that he had just about slept an entire day away. He hated to waste any amount of time. "Sorry, P." he half whispered, staring at the floor, and shook his head, "I didn't mean to skip out on you."

"I get the feeling that it wasn't entirely up to you. What happened out there, Jack?" He didn't say anything. "C'mon," she said tenderly as she moseyed over to him, placing a hand on his warm cheek and speaking softly, "Tell me." The feeling of skin against him sent a welcomed shiver down his spine. Taking her hand in his, he kissed her palm then pulled her down so she straddling his lap.

"Don't worry about that…" he smiled, mocking her, "nothing I can't handle."

"Says the guy that was knocked out for fifteen hours," she laughed and wound her arms around his neck, "You can _definitely _handle this."

"You think this funny, don't you?" 

"No, no, of course not," she said, shaking her head with sarcasm, "it's never funny when someone gets theirs ass kicked to BFE."

"You know what?"

"What?"

"You ain't very funny," their lips met, his brilliant red ones against her soft pink ones. Feeling his warm, moist tongue glide along her bottom lip, she happily and gleefully granted him access. Jack—who was still tremendously joyful that she was not dead and hanging from a pole—slid his tongue past hers into her awaiting mouth, deepening their kiss, sending them into blissfulness. He leisurely inched one hand up to the mid of her back as the other tangled itself in her pink and black hair. Her graceful fingers slithered over his broad shoulders and down his chest and abdomen, tracing each and ever muscle. Her skin, an average tone, seemed so much darker against his pure, snow-white skin; to most it would come across as _unnatural_, but, to her, it looked…so…_right_, like it was meant to be.

His lips left hers and he moved across her jaw and down to the nape of her neck. She took in a sharp breath and giggled at the feeling. Smirking, he moved, again, up to her ear, "I love you," he whispered.

She smiled at his words and whispered back, "I love you, too, Ja—"

"JACK?!" the random outburst had the two of them crying out in surprise with Jack falling back on the bed and Plio to the floor. Out of fear of being heard, Plio slapped a hand over her mouth and sat motionless. "JACKENDABOKS?!" Harley Quinn called out, her voice over-flowing with concern. Jack got up and walked to the door, laughing at the look on his girlfriend's face.

"Yeah, mom?!" he shouted back, poking his head out the door.

"You're awake?!" she shrieked with excitment, "How are you feeling, sweetie?! Do you need anything?!" she was a little frantic but she certainly had that right to be, considering what had happened to her son.

"I'm feeling fine, mom, don't worry. And, no, I don't need anything. I'll be down soon to get some breakfast—"

"Dinner," Plio snapped.

"—dinner!"

"Okay! Don't rush yourself though!"

"I won't!" He shut the door back and turned back to the pink and black girl still sitting on his floor. "Why you look so scared?" he asked, green eyebrows raised with curiosity.

"You don't think she—they—heard us scream?" her eyes moved from him to the door then back to him.

"No. My walls are soundproof." He said as he pointed to each wall.

"But we could hear her."

"Well, the door's not completely soundproof; it muffles sounds pretty good though. Not to mention she was screaming as loud as she could…which is pretty loud." Gaining her composure back, Plio pushed herself off the floor with a sigh of relief.

"Well, okay, but I should probably head out just incase."

"Aw, don't go," he pleaded.

"I kinda have to now, you just told your mom you'd be down to eat. What do you want me to do? Wait?"

"Well…yeah," he smirked like an idiot as he casually waltzed over to her, arms outstretched, "then when I get back we can get down to business, making out and making noi—" She pressed a finger to his red lips when he got close enough, stopping him, his arms still outstretched.

"No," she reached behind her and pulled out a medium size, pink box, handing it to him. "You'll need to wear this…along with the make-up and contacts." He eyed the box hesitantly, but took it and opened the lid. "I'd figured you'd want black rather than any other. It's the same style too." It took him a moment to figure out what it actually was.

"A wig?" He stared at the heap of black hair and his face contorted into confusion.

"Well, school won't be as dark as it was at the dance, so you'll need to hide the green in your hair. And I knew there was no way in Hell you'd ever consider dying it. You just wouldn't be you without the green," she laughed, but he did not. "Jack?"

"Living a double life is hard, isn't it?" His voice was low and flat.

"Yeah, it can be, but you get use to it, and it will definitely be worth it."

"Oh, I know it'll be worth it, but…what if they don't' fall for it, this getup? What if they figure out who I am? I mean, if they figure _that_ out, they'll figure out who you really are. And if that happens—" She silenced him with her finger again.

"Shut up. You'll be fine. Trust me. Besides, if they figure out who you are, they'll just think I'm some retarded whore who's sleeping with a villain. But they'll never figure out that I'm really BD…gawd, I _hate_ that name." Jack chuckled at her distaste and kissed her forehead.

"So does everyone else."

"Go to Hell."

"After you." He kissed her again, now on her soft lips.

"Hmm," she sighed as he pulled away, "stop stalling and go eat…and get some more rest. I'll need you outside the school at seven-thirty, that'll give me an hour to show you around."

"What about my clothes?"

"They're in your dresser and closet. Now go." She spun him around and pushed him toward his heavy metal door.

"But—"

"Go!"

"Fine!" he turned back around, kissed her goodbye, then headed out of his room. "Seven-thirty?" he called, glancing behind him.

"Seven-thirty." She winked and was out the window.

_x__**X**__x_

The vast, dark cave was silent besides the almost silent typing of Bruce Wayne. The dozens of computer screens before him—each performing a different task—lit the ominous scenery of which he worked diligently. The biggest screen—the one he sat in front of—was scanning old newspapers and photos from a couple of decades earlier. "I'm impressed," he said without looking away from the monitor. "Your father, nor mother, was ever able to find this place."

"Yeah, well, I'm a lot smarter than them." Jack stepped out of the shadows and up to the back of Bruce's chair, his eyes fixated on the scanning pictures.

"How _did_ you find the cave? Did Pli—"

"I followed you when I was ten," he stated coldly with a hint of irritation. Bruce was silent for a moment, speechless.

"Well. Like I said, I'm impressed." Jack snorted, not really caring. "Now, is there something I can do for you? Or are you here to star—"

"You've seen them, too," it wasn't a question, "the men with the glowing green eyes." Still his eyes were glued to the monitors, searching.

"_Men_? There's more than one?" he asked, now looking up at the teen behind him.

"I was attacked—er—_approached_ by three of them. One at first, but he pissed me off so we got in a fight and two more showed up."

"And they were the reason you were knocked unconscious for several hours?"

"…_twitch_…"

"Right, well, what did they want?"

"They say they're old minions of my dad, and since he's too old now to do any real damage to the city, they want me to lead them in a take over of Gotham." Bruce rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger in deep thought.

"I don't remember them."

"Me either, and I'm sure my dear old dad would have told me about them. But they've been training and preparing for this, supposedly, for years." He was silent for a moment before continuing, "They're not ready, _yet_, but I get the feeling they will be sooner than we think."

"And are you going to join them?" Bruce's voice was serious and stern, that is, until Jack's yellow, rage filled eyes tore away from the monitors to glare angrily at the elder man.

"Of course not! I'm NOT my father! These people," he pointed to the screens, "don't give a **damn** if they fucking hurt someone! I DO! I may thoroughly enjoy causing a shit load of trouble for the people of Gotham, but I do NOT enjoy causing physical pain or suffering! But they do! They will! And they plan to!" He continued to stare at the former superhero before turning his head to look away, breathing heavily. '_I see he still has that anger management problem of his,_' Bruce reassessed a slow, steady sigh and spoke in a calm, understanding tone,

"If that be the case, then you must be prepared, as well as Plio—"

"NO!" he exclaimed as he looked back at Bruce, his eyes now wide with fear and concern.

"Why not?" Bruce got no answer. "What is it, Jack?" 

"She can't be involved."

"I have a right to tell my daughter if I so choose, unless you can give me a good reason not to. So why not?"

"Their first plan of action…is to…dispose the city of BD." They were both quiet, at a loss for words, for what seemed like an eternity.

"She'd want to know."

"But she's so…_impulsive_. She'll probably try to start a fight with them." Bruce nodded in agreement.

"You're probably right…and I suppose since, if you're right about them not being ready for an attack," Jack's face lit up with glee, "there is no need in telling her they plan to take her out." Jack pulled one of those 'score' moves, "However," he froze, "I do think we need to warn her about their attack on the city. That much she deserves to know."

"Yeah, she does need to be ready…alright, I'll tell her tomorrow."

"Good, now go home and get some sleep, you don't want to be falling asleep during your classes on your first day of school, now do you?" he laughed to himself, but Jack was as silent as the dark behind him.

"Sir?"

"Yes, Jack?"

"May I ask you a question?"

"Go right ahead." Jack hesitated for a moment, unsure if he should proceed, but decided to go with it.

"Why are you so okay with me?" Bruce, taken by surprise, turned around in his chair and stared puzzlingly at the teen.

"I don't understand what you mean, Jack."

"I mean, why aren't you fuming with uncontrollable rage and wrath at the relationship between Plio and me? Even when we were just friends? Or the fact that I know where your hideout is and who you really are? I am your enemy, not to mention the Joker's son…and what is so funny?" Jack was becoming irritated at the man's laughter.

"Jack, you are not, with out a doubt, your father nor his son…figuratively that is." Jack bowed is head, allowing Bruce to continue. "You have a sense of honor in you, something your father never had. You also never tell a lies, not in your words nor actions. Maybe an occasional fib, but you are only human. If you truly love my daughter, Jack, and she returns your feelings, then I won't come between you too. I don't want to see you two ending up like Romeo and Juliet." Jack snorted in humor, feeling slightly better. "I know you will never hurt her…emotionally, bumps and bruises are inevitable when you're in a battle. Besides," he grinned, "if I was to oppose the relationship, I'd be a hypocrite, and Selena would remind me every day." Jack ginned back, understanding exactly what he meant. "As for you knowing the location of my Bat Cave and our identities, you have yet to use it against us, so why should I worry? And if you do tell, I'll have them kill you," he pointed up; Jack's eyes instantly when to the ceiling of the cave, and his legs just about gave up, "all two-thousand of them." The black, fury flying rodents hung motionlessly above the clown prince and the former Batman, ready at their master's command.

"Heh, all we got is a few new hyenas…I _really_ hate bats…"

"Yes, anyways, as I was saying: you're a good kid, Jack," he patted the young criminal on his shoulder, "personality wise. And you are not, never have been, nor ever will be, your father. Don't let anyone tell you differently." Jack waved Bruce's hand away with a smirk and laughed.

"Jeez, you're gonna make me cry."

"I doubt it. Now get out, I need to get some sleep as well." Jack nodded and started to head back out, eyeing the bats above him, when Bruce called out, "I'm expecting you to be on your best behavior tomorrow. I don't want our efforts to be a waste."

"Don't worry," he waved again, "I've waited _years_ to go to school. I'm not going to do anything to get kicked out." Jack walked out of the cave with a new sense of pride; never had anyone said anything to him like what Bruce Wayne had. Maybe this relationship with Plio wasn't as far-fetched as he thought. Maybe it could actually work. He began to run as fast as his legs would let him, eager to get home, eager to get to sleep so he would be ready to start school. Nothing made him happier than the thought of spending eight hours a day, at least, with the love of his life, Plio 'BD' Wayne.

_x__**X**__x_

HA! Y'all thought it was the Joker following him! DIDN'T YOU?! Well it wasn't! It was Penoso Soffrire! Ain't that dude a butt? Gawd, I could just kick him in the shin, and I created him! If you want to see what he looks like just go here:

i153(DOT)photobucket(DOT)com/albums/s209/Kibaslilwolf/OCs/Batman OCs/penoso1(DOT)jpg

He looks AWESOME!! And that's not just bias talking…it's not…really…go look if you don't believe me!

Well, gotta run, need to start getting ready for graduation! Come this Friday at 3:30, I'm gonna be a graduate! DON'T HATE '08!! Anyways, keep an eye out for chapter seven, our little Jackendaboks is headed off to school. I wonder what's gonna happen!!

Luv y'all!

Dyno


	7. Gotham High

IMPORTANT!! IF YOU DID NOT GO BACK AND READ CHAPTER SIX AGAIN AFTER I CHANGED IT FROM AN AUTHOR'S NOTE TO AN ACTUAL CHAPTER, PLEASE DO SO NOW!

Okay, so I know it's taken me like forever to get this chapter up, but I've been so frickin busy. I'll try to do better next time. I still don't own the Batman universe but I do own all the OCs in this story and their storylines. But tell me something, if this did become a comic book, would you buy it? Just wondering. And how come none of y'all told me i was spelling Selina's name wrong? I mean, I was spelling Selena, but seeing Selina. I am hurt. Oh well.

I would like to thank posinedangel, I had been starting to doubt my ability to write, but you made me confidant again. THANK YOU! I would also like to thank all others who have reviewed my story even if it was just one chapter or all. You guys rock!!

This chapter is also dedicated to inzie23, I really think you'll like this one scene in here, and you better, cuz it was really weird to write.

Also special thanks to by beta, NotReallyAnything, you rock girl!! Luv ya!

Now, on with the story, this is our dear, beloved Jack's first day as a student, something he's been wanting to be for his entire life. I wonder how it will go…ENJOY!

BTW: OMG! THE DARK KNIGHT WAS…INDESCRIBLABLELY AWESOME! IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN IT YET, GO NOW! YES, RIGHT NOW! I'M SERIOUS, RIGHT NOW! ARE YOU GONE? GOOD! IT'S SO GOOD IT WILL COMPLETE YOU! THE JOKER WAS SO DAMN ADORABLE, YEAH, I KNOW THAT'S WEIRD AND CREEPY, BUT IF YOU SAW IT YOU WOULD UNDERSTAND! SO DO THAT!

Now, you may enjoy the chapter…

**Chapter 7: Gotham High**

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**X**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

'_Gawd! Hurry up, Jack!'_ Plio sighed while tapping her foot impatiently. She was waiting anxiously under a tree in the front of Gotham High. The clock on her phone read seven thirty-five; he was late. "Where are you?" she whispered.

"Right…:_pant_:…here." She turned around and instantly laughed.

"What'd you do? Run here?" she asked the breathless, panting teen. "That must have been few miles."

"The make…up took…longer…than…I had…antic…ipated," Jack managed to say between pants. "Then…I couldn't…find my…wig." He clumsily made his way to Plio, stopped—his right hand on the tree, the left on his knee—and continued to pant. Plio leaned over and kissed him sweetly on the cheek.

"You're out of shape."

"Shut…up." He took a deep breath and stood up straight. His skin was a nice tone, pale yet tan—like an almond tone—and he was wearing a black and white short-sleeve shirt with a skull on the front, dark blue jeans and black shoes to match. Who knew he could look so good—so hot—in every day clothing? But there was something different, something else. Plio stared intently into his eyes…they were…_YELLOW?!_ "What?" he asked when her eyes intensified, leaning back a little.

"Jack, you forgot your contacts!"

"What?!" he shrieked in horror. "Are you serious?! I was so sure I remembered everything!" A thought struck Plio's mind and she dung into her purse. "Oh man, now what am I going to do?!" Pulling out a small rectangular box, she popped it open and her face beamed. "My whole day is ruined! Jeez, my mom is gonna be so disappointed!"

"Jack," Plio said, still looking at the small box.

"I'm might as well just go back home…"

"Jack."

"…this whole thing was a failure."

"JACK!"

"What?"

"My mom gave this to me this morning, I didn't think to look in it till just now, but I have to say, I do think she know us better than we think." Plio turned the box around so Jack could see its contents and his face softened from panic to sheer relief.

"She's definitely my hero," he said in exasperation as he took the green contacts from the box and put them in their place. Plio watched with amusement and thought about how things always seemed to work out for him in some strange, unfair way. "Okay, Now I'm completely disguised." He stood back and held his arms out, spinning around once with a satisfied grin. "So, what do you think?" With a smile, she leaned into him, her hands on his chest—which the shirt showed off pretty well—and spoke against his now normal colored lips,

"I think you look _hot_." She kissed him tenderly and he, with his arms wrapped securely around her, kissed her back.

"It's just a shame," he said, breaking for a bit of air, "that you can't look as good as me," he smiled and she punched him in his shoulder.

"C'mon, dumbass." Plio took Jack by his hand, and dragged the laughing villain-turned-student toward the school he so long to be a part of.

_x__**X**__x_

"I don't see why we had to go through that," Jack—now John—started as he took a seat next to Plio in the back of the room, "I'm in all of your classes, I'm just gonna be following you around all day…like a lost little puppy," he grinned idiotically. By the ringing of the first bell she had managed to take him through the entire school showing him mostly what was important. She had taken him through his schedule as well, doing it backwards so that they would end up in their first block class.

"It was just incase I get sick or something and you're here by yourself," she stated, trying to ignore the very last comment.

"Ha! You," he pointed to her, "get sick? Yeah right. I seriously doubt that. You _never_ get sick…ever." He paused for a moment, thinking back, and then continued, "It's actually kinda annoying. I don't even remember you ever getting anything worse than the common cold or a twenty-four hour bug. And even _those_ are rare. Do you know how HARD it is to pull off a successful robbery when the hero is ALWAYS THERE? I mean, what the _HELL?_"

"…it could happen."

"Yeah…and my dad'll save a life," Jack snorted. At that moment Charlie, Plio's long time friend, walked through the classroom door and immediately spotted Jack. Squealing with excitement, she was standing beside him in the blink of an eye.

"Oh my God! So, what, you, like, go to this school now?! That's so awesome!" Her enthusiasm toward him, someone she barely knew, was making Jack a little uncomfortable.

"Thanks; you're Charlie, right?"

"Yeah, and you're…_John_?" she pointed.

"Yes."

"So what made you want to come here?" she asked, her voice a little too flirty. Jack glanced over at Plio, whom was glaring at her friend, and took her hand.

"So I could be closer to my Plio." He kissed her hand gently and smiled ever so slightly, throwing both the girls off a bit.

"O-oh," Charlie said in surprise, her eyes adverting between the two, "you two are going out now?"

"Yep," they answered in unison—Plio sounding a little vain—their eyes locked on one another.

"Huh…That's so sweet! It's about time she started dating. We were starting to think it'd never happen." Plio began to say something back, but she was interrupted by someone's clapping. A short, pudgy man, with an overly bushy beard, stood at the front of the class shooing people to their seats.

"Quiet down class," he said in a surprisingly high voice, "we have a new student." Motioning to the back of the room, every student turned in their desks to look. "John _Lichtenstein_, is it?" Jack's face fell and he glared quickly over to his 'girlfriend' who was busy finding the wall next to her very interesting.

"Yes, sir," he replied grudgingly, slowly changing his attention to his new teacher, "John Lichtenstein." He smiled at the man and tried has hard as he could to hide the disgust in his voice.

"Ah, well, good, it's great to have you join us. I am Mr. Brown, and welcome to calculus." The pudgy man clapped his hands once more and class began.

"_Lichtenstein_?! Seriously, Plio!" he whispered across the aisle.

"What? My mom thought it was really…cute…" she did little to hide her undeniable amusement.

"Well it's not!" Plio was starting to think that if he were to get any angrier the paint would start to melt right of his steaming face.

"Look at it this way, _John_," she said; egging him on, "you have a retarded-ass name in both real life **and** in disguise." she tried to say without smiling like an idiot.

"…I _**haa-ate**_ you…" he snarled, eyes flaring.

"I know," she said as she patted his hand.

"Why you gotta treat me like this?"

"Cause I'm still your enemy, now pay attention." Plio sat back the right way in her desk, keeping her blue eyes on whatever Mr. Brown was writing on the board. Jack, however, continued his glaring, aggravation bubbling in the pit of his gut. It did not matter how much he loved her, there was no doubt in his mind he was going to end up killing her…his mind thought back to his dream, and he began to sweat.

Calculus, which was usually Plio worst subject—the one she dreaded most—turned out to be actually quite interesting—she had actually managed to stay wake the entire time. Every question Mr. Brown asked the class, Jack was ready and eager with the correct answer. Whether it was basic math or something from a college calculus class, Jack knew and knew well. It was the same thing for every class: English, Economics, Government, Physics, even French. No matter what the subject was, Jack was an expert, and he had absolutely no problem flaunting it. Something Plio had never expected…well, the smartness, that is.

"How'd you get to become so smart? Especially when you had to learn on your own." Plio asked as Jack held the door open for her.

"Dunno. It just all comes so naturally for me, I usually pick on everything right away."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Mom was teaching me up to when I was eight or nine, then we both realized that I was capable of teaching myself. And I actually preferred it." He paused, pondering, "Come to think of it," he said, rubbing his chin, "that's how I learned to be the awesome villain I am today." Plio rolled her eyes at the display of his tremendous self pride.

"Jack, have you ever taken an IQ test?" she asked after a brief moment of silence.

"Um…no, I don't really want to know what it is."

"Why?"

"Just don't, I'd have to live up to it, and I like being able to act stupid."

"Oh…" she murmured, silently agreeing with him.

"C'mon, let's get some food. I'm starved!" He pulled her through the doors of the cafeteria and into one of the four lunch lines. Taking a tray, he began piling up as much food as she could possible eat—which was a lot—stopping only when he was just a couple of people from the cashier lady. "You think they'll let me charge this and pay it later?" he whispered back to Plio, eyeing the pile of food.

"Don't worry about it; Mom put plenty of money in your account. Just scan this," she instructed and handed him a rectangular card the size of a credit card. "You won't be able to eat lunch if you don't have this or cash, so DON'T lose it." He stared at the card but did not take it.

"She didn't need to do—"

"Just take it damnit, and go!" she exclaimed just above a whisper, shoving it into his palm and pushing him forward. Reluctantly Jack paid for his lunch and followed Plio across the lunchroom to a table in the senior cafeteria.

"Hey, Plio!" Bre called out as her friend took a seat in front of her, Jack—known to them as John—right beside her. "Did you hear about Andrew Moneyworks?" Jack's hand tightened angrily around Plio's as he thought back to the night in the alleyway when that stupid son of a bitch attempted to rape his beloved enemy. _'Who cares,'_ he thought to himself, _'I hope he gets butt-raped.'_ "Apparently after he got out of the hospital, he skipped town!"

"No way!" the two teens in disguise shouted together in astonishment.

"Yeah; I guess getting the snot beat out of him by Jackendaboks made him fear for his life." Jack grinned in self-pride, to think he caused someone to go into hiding. _'That's fucking awesome.'_

"Serves him right," Charlie blurted out, slamming her hands down onto the table, scaring the hell out of Bre, "after what he did to poor Plio! Saying such dirty things to her, and on the first date!" She stared deepening into her friend's sapphire eyes, sorrow in her own, "We're so sorry, P." Jack nodded in agreement, but eyed her curiously, _'So she didn't tell what happened to her…I wonder why…'_

"I know, for the **ump-teeth** time. And it wasn't your fault."

"Well, I'm glad the date went bad," the table's attention instantaneously turned to the school's newest student, none expecting that remark, "if it hadn't, I might not have gotten a chance to be with the lovely Plio Wayne," he stated affectionately, planting a peck on the top of each of her hands. Charlie sighed in awe.

"That's so swee—"

"But what I don't understand," Bre continued, cutting Charlie off, "is why Jackendaboks would attack him. He's never attacked someone fro no reason."

"Maybe the bastard, Andrew, took off after Plio and ran into Jackendaboks; ya know, and said something to piss him off." Charlie paused for a minute, becoming giddy-like as her thoughts wandered before continuing, "Maybe he saw what had happened and decided to teach Andrew a lesson in manors." Plio giggled at the truth of her friend's accusations, while the corners of Jack's lips curled up into a small smirk.

"I doubt it, Jackendaboks is a lowly criminal, remember," his smile vanished, replace with irritation and slight hurt, "he doesn't save people."

"Yeah, but he doesn't hurt them either. And he's not really a _bad_ guy, he's just a nuisance. All he does is steal." Plio butted in, glancing up at her boyfriend with concern. Jack was staring at the table top in frustration; he was NOT lowly, he was an excellent criminal.

"But stealing hurts the economy, which in return, harms us," Bre argued.

"Yeah, but considering who his father is, I'd say Jackendaboks isn't so bad," Charlie retaliated, "so I'd say he's pretty cool."

"I wouldn't…"

"Hey," Plio whispered to Jack as her friends went on, "you okay?"

"If I hear my whole name one more time I'm gonna lose it." He moved his eyes to look at his best friend and grinned at the stupid smile on her face. "What?"

"You're so cute." Grinning even more now, he leaned over and kissed her forehead.

"I love you," he murmured against her skin. She pulled back and reached up to caress his cheek.

"I love you, too." They continued to stare at one another until they were interrupted.

"Plio, what do you think?"

"Huh?" she turned her head to look at the rest of the table and the awaiting eyes of her friends. "What do I think about what?"

"Jackendaboks," Jack's head hung just a little, "do you think the name's cool or not? Personally I think it's okay, unique, but Charlie thinks it's '_totally awesome,'_" she said, saying the last bit in mockery of Charlie. Plio shoot another glance at Jack, whom was doing the same toward her, and said slyly, looking back at Bre,

"I think it's _hot._" Jack smirked proudly.

"And what about you," Charlie asked, nodding toward Jack. He looked her square in the eyes and smiled.

"I hate it." Plio, who had been taking a drink, choked a bit, coughing, not having been expecting that. "I think it's the most retarded-ass name anyone should give a kid, and his parents should be shot."

"Holy shit, that's horrible!" Plio exclaimed in hysterical laughter, as was everyone else.

"What? It's true. Anyone who would name their child that would have to be horrible people themselves…and they are! Therefore, they need something really bad to happen to them."

"Well, we all think it's frickin awesome, so you lose," Charlie declared. The table roared on in laughter and Jack felt something he'd wanted to feel for a very long time: acceptance.

Jack had spent his entire life thinking everyone else hated him, despised him. Yet here he was, sitting with fellow teenagers who talked about him like he was their idol. It was weird, he'd always seen himself as nothing but a crook, but these people saw him as something more, or at least, something different. But the strangest thing of all……

……they liked his name…

"JOHN! EARTH TO JOHN!" Charlie's voice was loud and obnoxious, bringing Jack back to reality.

"Oh. What?"

"I sa-aaid, do you want to go to the movies with me, Bre, and Plio tonight?" His eyes instantly lit up as if he were a small child receiving the world's largest lollipop.

"Really?" he breathed, bewildered. "You want me to come?"

"Yeah, sure, why not? So do you?"

"Well, yeah!"

"Cool, Bre will get in touch with Plio with the movie times so she can tell you."

The bell rang, loudly, signaling the end of third lunch; Bre and Charlie rose from the table, trays in hand and still chatting while Jack and Plio hung back so they could talk amongst themselves. She grinned at him strangely and he stared back with confused curiosity.

"What?" he asked as they exited the lunchroom.

"You."

"What about me?"

"You're just so friggin adorable."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you getting all excited like that over being invited to the movies. It's just so damn cute." He playfully pushed her as he chuckled to himself and she shoved him into the lockers lining the hallway.

"OW! That hurt!" he complained, rubbing his shoulder.

"Get over it."

"I don't like you anymore." She shrugged.

"So…you're still cute."

"Well, as much as I would love to stay here and listen to you go on and on about how cute and adorable I am, don't we have to get to class?"

"Yeah, fine, I guess so." He smiled, kissing her one last time before taking her hand and leading through the crowed halls. "…but I hate history."

_x__**X**__x_

The cool autumn breeze blew across the school yard, sending a chill down Plio's spine. Jack wrapped an arm tightly around her, holding her close as he leaned against the tree they had met at earlier that morning. She buried her face in his broad chest, trying her best to steal some warmth; his free hand moved up to stroke her long, jet black, _fake_ hair. "You know, I think your real hair is a lot softer than this thing."

"Would you leave _me_ and _my wig_ alone? Damnit. You've been picking at me about it for five years! And you're wearing one, too, ya know."

"Yeah, but at least mine's the same style as my real hair."

"That's because it's not that unique of a style, no one will think anything of it. But if _I_ come to school with a wig of the same style as my real hair, people would instantly recognize me."

"Why?"

"Because it's not a common style. And this wig is the only thing keeping them from recognizing me. I mean, you've also got make-up concealing who you really are."

"You could really throw them off, you know, by getting some green streaks in the wig."

"You are so retarded, I'm not doing that. Now leave me and the wig alone." He kissed the top of her head with a smile.

"But I'm bored. Why are we even out here?" he wined as he gazed around the school yard and all the students leaving to go home or wherever.

"Bre said she was stopping by the library to check the times for all the movies and would meet us out here."

"She can't just call you?" Plio sighed.

"She's got to go to her mom's work, and I'd rather her not walk there alone. She has no sense of self defense. I actually worry about her quite a lot."

"You have such a good heart, you that?" he said into her hair, "There aren't a lot of people like you in this world."

"You have a kind heart, too, Jack," she said quietly. "You just don't know it."

"Naw, just a bit a mercy." _'That's more than your father ever had, though._' She thought as she stared deeply into his eyes, searching. There was something there, the green contacts did little to hide this, and there was definitely something there. It was as if he was keeping something from her, something he'd been withholding for a long time. Something that had him in constant worry…but what?

Just then someone called out their names. Plio pushed back gently from Jack to see who it was, though she already knew. Bre was racing across the school grounds with a smile spreading from ear to ear. To Jack's annoyance, she wasn't even panting when she reached them, but was breathing normally, keeping her smile. "The best showings are all around eight, but we get something to eat around six."

"Sounds good to me. I think I can get all my work done by then. How 'bout you, _Johnny Boy_?" Plio turned her head to look back at her companion, who nodded.

"You two ready to go?" he asked in an eager tone.

"Yep," they replied together. With a warm smile he held his hand out for them to lead the way, and they complied. Jack stayed close behind as they made their way down the busy sidewalk; his eyes scanned their surroundings constantly, searching for any signs of Penoso. He listened intently to the conversation between the life long friends, joining in occasionally. It felt a little strange, walking the streets of Gotham in the broad day-light without his trench coat and gloves. But it was nice, not having to hide…so to speak.

"Oof," Jack, being caught up in a day dream, had failed to notice that the girls had stopped a couple of feet in front of him and walked right into them. "Sorry," he apologized with a small smile, scratching the back of his head, "I didn't see you stop. I didn't hurt you, did I?" They shook their heads.

"No, we're fine," Bre said reassuringly. She then turned her focus back to Plio, "I'll see you two at six? In front of the pizza place by the theatre?"

"Yeah, we'll be there."

"Okay than, see you there!" she gave her friend a quick hug, waved to Jack—who waved in return—and disappeared in the building before them. Jack went to take Plio's hand in his when she yanked it away and turned to glare at him straight in the eyes. Before he could ask her what was wrong, she asked him.

"What's wrong, Jack?" Jack stared back dumbfound in complete confusion and surprise.

"What are you talk—"

"I know you're hiding something," she poked him in his chest, "so tell me what it is." He hastily looked around for something he could use to change the subject or help him come up with a lie, but there was nothing.

"I…uh…see, there's this group…of thugs…and they…want me to…uh…help….them… do _stuff_." He smiled nervously as she eyed him with question, her hands placed firmly on her hips.

"Are you lying to me?" she finally asked.

"…yes."

"JACK!"

"What?!"

"Tell me!"

"No!"

"Why the HELL not?!" she demanded while stopping her foot.

"Because…" he hesitated, "I don't want you to get upset," he hesitated again, "and do something _irrational_."

"What makes you think I'll do something like that?!" she barked, hands back on her hips.

"You **always** do that!" she was silent for a slight moment, thinking back.

"…well, that's beside the point! Tell me anyways!" Jack sighed knowing he would be defeated in this argument, _'She'll never let this go."_ Taking her by the shoulders, he pulled her around the corner of the building.

"Listen," he began, his voice low, "there's this group of people—the ones that attacked me in the alley—that just came to the city; they say they're old followers of my father, and they are trying to get me to join them and their _cause_."

"Which is?"

"To take over Gotham, what else is there?"

"Right, and are they a big threat?" He shook his head.

"No, not right now. Not that I could see," he said as he rubbed his chin, "they didn't come across as being very tough."

"They knocked your ass out, didn't they?" she smiled; he didn't respond. "So…"

"Yeah?"

"…are you going to join them?" It was Jack's turn to be silent. He turned his head to stare intensely at the building Bre had just vanished into; a feeling of unease and worry began to wash over and consumer her. "Jack—"

"I wasn't going to, but…" he said at last; her heart sank and her eyes dropped to the ground. How could he? Then again, he was still a criminal—though she'd wish going to school would change that—and every criminal wants to take over the city of which they reside. But why? Jack, noticing her immediate despair, smiled affectionately and placed his fore finger beneath her chin. He lifted her head to look her in the face; her eyes were filled with depression. "You didn't let me finish," he said with a wink, "I wasn't going to, but if I did, it would gain me access to information that I need to stop them." He leaned down to kiss her lips when,

"heh…" **WHAM **Plio sunk her powerful fist into the side of his arm, causing him to cry out! "YOU TRIED TO GET ME UPSET!"

"Yeah, but it was funny," he laughed, rubbing his arm, "and all of it was true."

"You jerk, go to hell," she barked and spun around.

"Fine, but we're still going to the movies, right?"

"Errr!" Jack watched as she stomped down the sidewalk, stopping a few yards ahead of him, and pulled out her cell phone, "Joe, can you come and pick Jack and me up? We're at Bre's mom's office…okay…see you in five." Jack bit his tongue and waited for her to speak. "Well, are you coming?" she called back, "The car's gonna be here in five minutes." Jack grinned like and idiot and ran to her side.

_x__**X**__x_

"Here you are, love," Selina said as she sat the stack of white envelopes on her husband's desk, "these are the rest of the orders."

"Thank you, honey," his reply was flat, as if his answer was automated and he was oblivious to the fact that he was talking to her. Annoyed at his lack of attention, Selina moved to the back of his chair, and—planting soft kisses along the side of his neck while reaching around his shoulders—began to unbutton his shirt.

"You need to take a break," she whispered in his ear, gliding a hand into his shirt and down his chest.

"I don't have time for a break, Selina," Bruce said as he pulled her hand out. Selina, holding Bruce against the back of the chair, moved to his side and then, with a grin, straddled his lap.

"You've got plenty of time," she said as seductively as she could, unbuttoning the remaining buttons of his shirt, purring, exposing his still well muscular chest. "And I promise when we're done," she kissed his right peck, "I'll help you finish here," she kissed his left peck. "What do you say?" she moved down his chest and abdomen, leaving a trail of kisses behind.

"Selina…" he moaned as her lips inched lower and lower. She looked up, smiling, but her smile was swiftly traded for concern. Her husband looked terrible—deep, black bags hung from his eyes—as if he hadn't slept for days."

"Bruce, what's wrong? What happened?" she gently caressed his face with her hand, holding it steady as she stared him in his dark eyes. "Have you not been able to get any sleep?"

"Just last night."

"No, you've gone twenty-four hours without sleep plenty of times before and you've _never_ looked this bad. Unless…" her voice became like a whispered as she stroked his cheek lovingly, "Bruce, what happened? What's got you all worked up?"

"I got a visit from Jackendaboks last night."

"You did?" she asked in surprise, "When?"

"When I was in the cave."

"Really? He figured out how to gain accesses to the Bat Cave?"

"He said he followed me one day when he was ten."

"Huh…that's amazing, not even Harley could figure that one out. I mean, she's a little slow, but she was still smart enough to figure out who you were…though that wasn't really that difficult. Hell, Ivey couldn't even figure out where it was and she'd the smartest one of the smartest villains in Gotham, if not the smartest." She tapped her chin in deep ponder, "Maybe he really is as smart as Plio says he is." Selina paused, observing the look on Bruce's face, "I'm sorry, baby, I digress, why was he there." Bruce shook his head, amused, and continued.

"He came to warn me."

"About what?"

"A new group of people, of villains, that have come to the city. They want him to lead thin in an attack against the city." Selina leaned back so she that she was looking him in the eyes, her face serious.

"He's not going to do it, is he?"

"I doubt it. Jackendaboks takes far too much pride in being Gotham's only real threat to allow anyone else to take his place. Besides, he wants to take over the city himself." She observed him curiously feeling something bad was coming.

"There's a 'but,' isn't there." He nodded.

"I feel he might just need to join them, but only to keep an eye on them."

"Why? Do you think they are a serious threat?" He did not answer, but looked away. "Bruce?" He kept his gaze off to side, avoiding eye contact with his wife. But Selina wouldn't have it; holding his chin in her fingers, she turned his face back to her. "Bruce, what is it?"

"…They plan to kill Plio." The blood rushed from Selina face and her body fell numb, as did her hands.

"My baby?!" she shrilled in horror, her hands covering her mouth. "Why would they want to do that?!"

"Because, she is the enemy, the hero."

"So," she said coldly and flatly, moving her hands to her hips, "that doesn't mean they have to kill her."

"That's what villains do, Selina. They try to, or succeed in killing off the hero. It's how it's always worked."

"Jack has never tried to kill Plio," she said gruffly.

"Jackendaboks is not a villain. He's more of what you used to be: somewhere between a common criminal and a small time villain." She paused briefly.

"…Alright, I'll give you that. But Bruce! They want to MURDER my little girl!" Bruce reached up and held her fearful, frantic face in his strong hands, waiting for her to relax. Once she was calm, and looking at him directly, he began to speak softly.

"Selina, my love," he conversed lovingly, wiping away a stray tear on her cheek with his thumb, "as much as I don't want to admit, and God knows I don't," he brushed a strand of hair from her face, "she's not our little girl anymore. In a few weeks, she'll be eighteen, and an adult. We've fought many of her battles for her, but not this one."

"But…"

"We can guide her through it, but we can not fight it for her. It's about time we let her grow up." Saying nothing, she took his hands in hers, kissing each palm tenderly.

"Silly Bruce," she said, smiling at her beloved husband, her eyes blurring with tears, "she grew up a long time ago." He stared into her eyes—the eyes he fell in love with so long ago—before gently pulling her forward, lying her head upon his chest, his arms encasing her tightly.

"Everything is going to be all right," he whispered and planted a soft, tender kiss atop her head, "Nothing is going to happen to her…I promise."

"Don't promises for things of which you cannot control, Bruce."

"I'm not. I'm promising, in the end, everything will be alright. However, the journey may not."

"MOM! DAD!" Plio's voice rang loudly throughout the Wayne mansion, jerking the two adults back into reality. Selina scurried off of her husband's lap while he hurried to re-button his shirt. "Mom?! Dad?!"

"In here, sweetie!" Selina called out, a little out of breath, and wiping her eyes. Plio popped her head through the door to her father's home office just as her parents had finished straightening themselves up.

"Oh, hey, um, Jack and I are gonna meet Bre and some others at five thirty to get something to eat and then we're going to the movies. Is that okay?"

"Yes, that's fine," her mother smiled, still a little exasperated.

"Thanks." She paused, her blue eyes moved from her mother to her father and back to her mother with question. "…why do you guys," she said, pointing, "look like you've just been caught with your hand in the—oh God…ugh…that's _sick_." Plio slammed the door to the office shut listening to her mother's giggles, and dawdled over to the leering clown prince in disguise.

"What? What's wrong?" he asked, "…they were getting frisky in there, weren't they?" she nodded in repulsion. "Aww, my poor baby," he said as he wrapped his arms around her, "It'll be okay, believe me…I've seen that plenty of times…_and worst_." She snorted at the pain in his voice.

"It's so wro-oong though."

"Yeah, but dinner and a movie will help you forget all about it."

"I hope so. Just let me get freshened up. C'mon." Pushing back out of his hold, she headed up the stairs to her room, waving for him to follow, which he gleefully complied.

"I've never come to your room like this before," Jack said as he gazed at all the paintings and small statues lining the hallway.

"Like what? What do you mean?"

"Through the house, I usually have to go through the window."

"Yeah, but you've been _all_ through the house plenty of times. Remember when we were little and you would sneak over hear and we'd play hide-n-go seek when mom and dad weren't home?"

"Yeah, those were good times." They shared a smile as they reminisced about the days long before they ever knew the love they held. "Though, I still like the window."

"Well you can keep coming that way if you want to."

"Good, I prefer it, it's more fun," he stated with a devilish grin. Plio shook her head.

"No, you just like cuz it could get you into trouble."

"I'm a glutton for mayhem," he stated, holding his hands up, palms out, with a smirk.

"So tell me about these people you were talking about earlier," she said as she opened her bedroom door and walked to her vanity.

"Their current leader's name," Jack began, taking a seat on her bed, "is Penoso."

"Penoso? That's kinda weird," she thought out loud while brushing her hair. "Is it Spanish?"

"Italian. And it means, pain."

"Really? Pain? That's so cliché. But it's kinda cool, I mean, we've never had a foreign villain…well, not since I've taken my dad's place." Jack waited a moment before continuing.

"……Anyway, according to him, they use to be followers of 'dear old dad' way back in the day, but I sure as hell don't remember them, or even hearing anything about them." He laid back on the bed, resting his head on his arms, "And I hate to burst your bubble, but, I think he was only foreign in name. The guy had almost a nonexistent accent, like his parents were from Italy, but he was born here." Plio eyed the teen through her vanity mirror curiously.

"Then how do you know he was Italian? What, you just decided to go home and look up his name?" Jack shook his head, his eyes shut.

"Didn't need to."

"Why? You just knew it?"

"Well, yeah, I speak Italian." Her curiosity grew.

"Really?" she asked, twisting in her chair so that she was facing him, her blue eyes beaming with amazement, "Since when?"

"Since I was nine," he yawned. "I found this book," Plio cocked an eyebrow, "…okay I stole the damn thing, anyway, the book was on speaking Italian. I thought it looked pretty cool so I taught myself."

"That's unbelievable. Did you still anymore books?"

"Oh yeah, after I was pretty fluent in Italian I went back to the same place and stole a whole crap load more. Learned 'em all," he said proudly. Plio was absolutely flabbergasted; could he really have been for real?

"How many did you learn, Jack?" He shrugged his shoulders again.

"Hold on," she watched him as he counted off the different languages on his figures. In all the years that she had known him, never once had he ceased to amaze her. That's what she really loved about him. "Eleven," he finally said and her jaw hit the floor.

"_ELEVEN?!_ Seriously?!" He nodded. "Well how many of those are you fluent in?"

"Oh…" he looked up thinking, "…nine."

"NINE?!"

"Yeah, I'm still learning Mandarin and Japanese. I'm almost fluent in Japanese, but I'm still struggling with Mandarin…" she was gawking oddly at him making him feel a tad uncomfortable. "Why? Is that a lot?" She continued to gawk at him in awe. How could someone so damn smart be so damn retarded? Then again, the boy didn't really get out much.

"Yeah, Jack, that's a lot." He shrugged, for the third time, and resumed his fake nap. Plio was silent, finding herself without words. She remembered how it would scare her to think about having to face him and his combat skills, but now, now she worried what would happen if he ever decided to act like most villains and destroy or brutally damage Gotham and more. She was really beginning to believe he could…if he wanted to. "Hey, Jack," she said, getting an idea, "I've got this IQ test on my computer—"

"Ah-uh, no way, I told you I don't want to know how smart I am."

"Yeah, but this one is different…It tells you which animal you are closest to in intelligence," she quickly lied. He raised his eyebrow in slight interest. "It's pretty cool, I kept getting a fox."

"Huh…alright, sounds okay, I'll give it a whirl." She smiled and got up from her seat to allow him to sit down. Reaching around him she opened her laptop and the internet, then a link to the said IQ test.

"Here you go. Just tell me when you finish."

" 'Kay." Strolling over to her bed, where he had just been lying, she took a seat and observed him closely as he went from question to question…quickly. As she watched him a strange, nerve-racking feeling slowly washed over her entire body. It was like a panic attack about something she knew nothing about. She began to feel scared and alone even though she was not. There was nothing there to frighten her, but…still, something was. And whatever 'it' was, it was definitely bad. No, not bad, no, evil, cruel even, and it was coming. Plio stared at the back of Jack's head and she knew, some how, something dreadful was about to happen. "All done," he said, his voicing pulling her back down to Earth.

"Already?" she asked in astonishment.

"Yeah, it was pretty easy," he answered as she walked up beside him. "A couple I had to guess on, but that was pretty much it. Now when do I get my results?" Plio stared at the computer screen then to Jack.

"Let me just put in my email address and password and it will send it to me, but…while I'm doing that will you go to the bathroom and get my hairspray? It's in a tall silver can," she asked as she inconspicuously took the tall silver can off of her desk and hid it behind her.

"Okay," he agreed happily. Scooting the chair back, he rose and walked out of the room. Plio, making sure he was gone, sat back down and clicked here and there before just she about sucked all the air from the room.

"No waaay," she whispered to herself. Her hand leisurely moved to cover her gaping mouth as she stared bewilderedly at the results. _'That's even higher than Einstein.'_ She watched the screen as if waiting for the number to change or a technical error message to pop up, but nothing happened. Maybe the test was messed up, there was no way that could have been right…hopefully.

"Yeah so I couldn't find the can—"

"AHHH!"

"AHHH! What the fuck?!" Jack shouted in retaliation.

"You scared the hell out of me!"

"Oh…" he grinned, "…sorry." She rolled her eyes. "So, what's my score?"

"Uh…um…its…" she pretended to search the information on the screen, "it says you're an…ele…phant…" Neither said a word; Jack, a little disappointed, and Plio, wondering where in the hell that came from. Why couldn't she have said a something a like a tiger? There'd be no questions following that one.

"An elephant? Really? Why?" Crap. Now he was gonna want to see for himself. She needed to think fast.

"Ahhhh…yeah, you know," she said, rising from the chair, "a big," she stepped up to him, "strong," she wrapped her arms around his neck, "really smart," she brought her mouth to his, "elephant." With her warm breath against his skin, he smirked, liking her answer, and he kissed her lips softly.

"Well, when you put it like that," he grinned, as did she, then his eyes shifted to her desk, "You idiot," he said in humor.

"What?!" she exclaimed as she spun around.

"Your hairspray is right there," he pointed to the tall can sitting at the far corner of her vanity.

"Oh…heh…my bad. Okay well, let's go," she quickly said, yanking him roughly toward the door and away from the computer.

"Yeah but it's only three thirty." She shoved him out of her room.

"It feels really good outside, so I wanna walk."

"All the way there?" he whined and she nodded.

"It will take us an hour and a half to get to the central part of the city, so we'll still have plenty time before we have to be at the restaurant." Jack sighed in aggravation, defeat, and agreement and sauntered down the hallway mumbling something about "pushy people" and "stupid walking." As she shut her bedroom door, Plio stole one last glance at the computer screen and the big red three digit number:

…220.

_x__**X**__x_

The brilliant glowing, green eyes shown through the twilight-like the moon above them. They searched the streets below has the pair of hazel eyes beside them search further with their binoculars. "The girl said they were to meet somewhere around here at this time, did she not?" Penoso's voice was cold and demanding.

"Yes, but teenagers today are never on time," the female next to him answered, her eyes still scanning the sidewalks.

"I do not understand why he would waste his time going to that school. Or why his father would allow it at that. Young Jackendaboks' time could be spent much more wisely if he were to join us," his fist clenched the edge of the building's roof in fury. The woman watched him out of the corner of her eye, smiling just enough to keep him from noticing.

"There's no need for anger, my love, I assure you; he will join us. Though, I'm curious about the young girl he was with. I wonder if she is aware of whom he really is, and if not, why would he seem so close to her." She pouted a bit, "It would more helpful if we could have heard what they were saying earlier."

"I have a feeling he was telling her about us."

"I doubt it, he wouldn't tell some ordinary person about that, especially since he was knocked out. Which was a little unnecessary," she teased, poking the man in his shoulder. "I just find it odd that out of all the girls at that school, he chose _her_ to befriend. Then again, at the same time, I'm not."

"Why? Who is she?"

"You don't know?" His face clearly showed his diminishing patience, "She's Plio Wayne. Daughter of Bruce and Selina Wayne." Penoso's eyes moved back to the busy streets below not giving any acknowledgment to what she had said. "Well, I find it interesting—"

"There…" he pointed a gloved finger over to the right, "they just turned down that dead end street, and that Wayne girl is with him." Pulling the hood of his cloak over his head—allowing only his eyes to be seen—Penoso rose from his kneeling spot, his hand outstretched toward his companion. "It seems as though you'll get to have a bit of fun, tonight, my dear Melissa." The woman smiled deviously, taking her leader's hand, and he pulled her up and close to him—one hand around her waist, the other holding hers in the air—the tip of their noses touching.

She chuckled slightly, still smiling, and whispered menacingly, "Call me Lithe."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**X**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Okay, there we go, chapter seven! I'm sorry it took so damn long. I feel awful, but at least I posted it. Right? Well, let me know what you think, please, I'd really appreciate it.

So, yeah, I wonder…what's in a wonder ball…hahaha just kidding, but I do wonder who that Lithe is…well, actually I already know, or do I?! You would think I did cuz I'm writing this, but maybe I'm making it up as I go…how 'bout that? Okay, I do know. But you don't!...I had a lot of sugar…ha….anyways, the next chapter will have a lot more Penoso and Lithe, so stay tuned…or whatever you do with a story…I don't really know.

Luvs yous all

Dyno

PS: how 'bout that old people smut?? Yeah, that was weird.


	8. Lithe

The restaurant they were headed to was in the far back of an alleyway in central Gotham

OMG! HERE IT IS! CHAPTER 8! Well, actually, I had intended for this to be the first scene of chapter 8, but it was getting so long, I was like, "Eh…I better just make it one chapter." So I did. I'm sorry it took so long again…I'm just so nit-picky about making it perfect for my readers. Please forgive me.

So, now, it is time for you to meet my newest character, Lithe. I model her after one of my friends, including her first name, and this friend is the awesome beta of mine, Not Really Anything aka NRA (-- Nation Rifle Association…I find that funny). But in her defense, she's not as insane as Lithe.

Shout Outs:

**Janus Darko**: Um…wow…I never once thought of that…really…I suck at acronyms. You've got to be a super genius…seriously…shoot, I just named him that cuz the Joker always has like a crap load of Jack-in-the-Boxes everywhere. Buy your idea is much cooler.

**inzie23**: Actually, I had forgotten that the Joker's real name was Jack, so that was by complete accident. And Plio's real hair is the pink and black stripped hair, and the long black hair is the wig. She thinks it's easier that way, cuz she doesn't have to worry about a wig falling off during a fight and her enemies finding out who she is. And I'm so glad I made you day. And yes it was very, VERY weird, but it was also really kinda fun to write. But I have to ask you, what was better, that or the locker scene? :-)

So go now and enjoy this awesome chapter.

ON WITH CHAPTER 8!

**Chapter 8: Lithe**

_x__**X**__x_

The restaurant they were headed to was in the far back of an alleyway in central Gotham. There was never any real traffic coming and going to the small pizzeria; you had to know the city pretty well to know its existence and not be too proud to eat there. They had excellent food, it's just the place was a little run down looking, so most of the inhabitants of the rich and powerful Gotham City would never go there.

Therefore, if they were to be attacked…there would be no witnesses.

The air in the all was slightly damp, probably due to an upcoming shower, but even so, it made Jack a bit uncomfortable. He casually shifted his hand from Plio's and wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, brushing off his action will a laugh and a kiss to her nose.

The alleyway they were in was longer than he had wished; in fact it was shaped kind of like a backwards seven, with the restaurant being at the very end. As they approached the turn Jack felt his heart gradually began to race as if he was frightened. His breathing became more and more erratic and panicky as the feeling that they were being watched intensified. '_They're here,_' he thought, his gaze rising to the roof tops. "I really hope it doesn't start to rain, not with me wearing this white shirt," Plio laughed, but her date was no longer paying attention to their conversation. She lifted her head and watched him closely; his eyes were moving swiftly from side to side, his face enraged. "Jack? Are you okay?" He did not answer and she knew why. "You feel their presence too, don't you?" she asked, barely moving her lips and attempting to stop, but he pulled her onward.

"Yeah," he mumbled back, "so keep moving." He commanded almost silently. She nodded once ever so slightly and continued walking. Jack pulled her closer to him, as close as she could get, but that did not last long. For it was only just a moment later, before he could utter the words "Stay close," she was yanked away from him, from the safety of his protection. Jack grabbed Plio's arm and tried to pull her back, but his attempt to save her was flawed when the attacker's foot sank into the young clown's chest. Plio struggled to scream and fight back, however, her cries were instantly muffled and her punches ceased when a white cloth or something was placed firmly over her mouth, and then she was silent.

Jack had managed to scramble back to his feet after being kicked to the ground, his eyes blazing fiercely at the figure hiding in the shadows in front of him. "Let her go, you fucking bastard!" he growled, like a wild animal. Jack's eyes moved to Plio's limp body and his blood boiled with hostility.

"Bastard?!" The unexpected feminine voice had Jack taking a step back, "I think the term '_bitch_' would be much more appropriate, thank you!" Jack stared on with is eyes wide and his jaw down on the ground.

"I…uh…I…wha…who are you?!" he managed to shout out, "And what do you want with her?!" he pointed at his comatose girlfriend.

"Her name is Melissa Obsedéz," came the all too familiar voice that made Jack want to go on a killing spree, "and she works for me." Penoso stepped into view, his eyes still the only visible part of his face, and he stood with his hands behind his back. Jack's stare shifted from the Italian menace and his captive beloved; he could feel his anger begin to climb with every passing second, slowly approaching insanity. His fingers twitched, aching to hit something—or someone—and his body tensed, ready to strike.

"But, please," the woman giggled, "Call me Lithe," her voice reminded him somewhat of a cross between his mother and Mrs. Catwoman: kind yet completely insane, "I like it so much more." Jack closed his eyes, suppressing is rage, and chuckled slightly.

"Heh, it's like déjà vu, don't you think? You couldn't wait till we were inside the movie theatre or something? The alleyway is getting old."

"Perhaps, but time is of the essence."

"Ri-iight. How'd you it was me? I thought this was a pretty good disguise," he said sarcastically, holding out his arms and checking out his outfit. "Shoot, I'm even wearing green contacts—"

"Simple," Jack's eyes quickly adverted to Plio's hidden captor, "we've been monitoring you," Lithe stated very matter-of-factly and sounding a little impatient, still hidden in the shadows. The disguised clown prince's eyes returned to the glowing green stare of Penoso, his blistering in fury of violation and shock.

"You've been spying on me?!" he snarled insanely, his fist balled up and his legs spread and ready to attack the bastard. He wanted, needed, to scream; who the fuck did they think they were? But he had to stay calm, had to keep his voice down, for if a civilian were to come out, they might end up injured. Penoso shook his head, and Jack knew he was smiling, he couldn't see it, but he knew he was by the sound of his voice when he spoke.

"No, of course not. Spying would be a twenty-four/seven thing; we would have had to be monitoring you even in your home…and we would _never_ do that to the clown king and his family. Jack snorted, '_Why? It's not like he cares about his family._' "If we had been watching you as closely as you may think we were, you would have known. You are extraordinarily gifted at knowing when you are being followed. No, we were doing just as the lovely Lithe said, only observing from a far." The cloaked man turned just a little and pointed at something atop the building. Jack looked up and noticed the small black camera pointing out into the streets. "This city has a lot of cameras to hack into."

"And we must say, dear Jackendaboks, you're a very interesting kind," Lithe asked, full of curiosity. "Why is it, do you prance around the city dressed like _that_? And with _her_ of all people." Jack took a moment to think before he answered, trying his damndest to stay calm and think clearly…oh how he hated when people he didn't even know used his name.

"First of all, bitch, don't call me by my full name, I know he," he pointed to her partner behind him, "told you that 'cause I've already 'discussed' it with him. And what is the big deal with me wanting to try out a normal life during the day? You really expected me to live life secluded from all other people and education and still know how to successfully take over a city or whatever? _Really_, are you guys that fucking stupid?"

"There's no need to be a smartass." Her voice was beginning to show hints of annoyance.

"Oh, well, Excuse-moi, ma amie.," he apologized sarcastically with a jerk-ish smirk.

"What?" Lithe barked, now irritated.

"You don't speak French?" he asked mockingly. "I'm sorry, I thought you were French, you know, since your last name is…then again you could just be stupid." In a half second something long and silvery was placed beneath Plio's chin.

"You know, it's really not very intelligent to piss off the person holding your girlfriend captive," she snapped as she leaned forward, the light revealing her appearance. Jack quickly memorized her face: she had thick, bright, red-auburn hair done up in high, feathered out pigtails. Each ear was covered in piercings along with a pair of snake bites. She had green eyes as well, but they were more hazel and full of frustration. Her choice in clothes looked like something out of the nineteenth century, and she had a katana…his eyes stopped moving. The shining blade was still pressed firmly against the young Wayne's throat. "Keep up with that smart mouth of yours and my blade just might slip." Jack smiled sinisterly.

"Go ahead." Lithe's jaw hit the concrete, but it did not stay there for long. Just then they heard a door open around the corner by a couple of familiar voices…to Jack.

"They should have been here by now, Charlie," Bre's voice was frantic and overflowing with worry. "You don't think something bad happened to them? Do you?" Quickly the three standing in the alley way disappeared into the shadows along the buildings—Lithe still holding onto Plio, her blade staying in its place—just as the two friends turned the corner.

"I'm sure they're fine," Charlie told her friend reassuringly. The two strolled up to the sidewalk at the entrance of the alley and searched the street for any sign of the last two arrivals, but there was none. "C'mon," she said with a sigh, "let's go and try calling her again…though their phones will _still_ probably be off." Bre nodded and followed close behind. As they passed between the other four, Bre stopped walking. "Bre?" Her head slowly turned and she looked directly at Jack, unbeknownst to her for she could not see him. Jack did not dare to move, he held his breath and stood as far against the wall as possible with is eyes squinted incase she could see them.

"Let's hurry, Charlie, I feel like we're being watched," she whispered, clenching tightly on her friend's arm, her eyes cautiously leaving Jack's. As they walked away, he released a silent sigh of relief, looking down, then his eyes caught sight of something and an idea formed in his head.

"Ooo-ooo, maybe it's Jackendaboks," Jack's head snapped up. "I hope it is. That boy is so-oo fucking sexy…hell, so is John."

"Charlie! That's Plio's boyfriend, you shouldn't talk about him like that."

"Well, he is. I wouldn't mind having some fun with him." Charlie's laughter diminished to silence as the two vanished back into the restaurant leaving the disgusted clown behind. The thought of her mental pleasure towards him made Jack just about throw up.

"Well, well, aren't you quite the ladies man? You've got every girl in the city chasing after you, don't you?" Lithe sneered as she came back out into the light.

"I wouldn't touch her to stab her," Jack spat as he, too, stepped back into the light, his thoughts going back to the dance and the drunken Charlie in the hallway. Anyone like that was not worth any of his time or care. Especially if the tend to 'get around.' Not to mention he had a really _bad_ feeling about her.

"That's an awful way to put it. Then again you don't even care if I kill you little date here," she pressed the katana further into her neck to the point of which if any more force was applied, the blade would slit Plio's throat wide open. Jack's heart beat faster and faster with fear for his love, but he would not allow himself to show it. As far as he could tell, they had no idea that she was BD or just how important she was to him, and he had to keep it that way.

"Why should I care? She means nothing to me…well, she means more than that other girl, but anybody would. And, hey, I was like 'If I'm gonna pretend to be normal, why not go all out and date someone while I'm at it? And who better than the Gotham princess herself." It was weird…he didn't feel as bad about saying that as he thought he would…and, even weirder, that didn't really bother him. However, **that** did worry him.

"You're a horrible person," she grumbled.

"Says the bitch with a blade to another's throat!"

"You know what, you stupid shit—"

"ALRIGHT! ENOUGH!" Penoso's voice rang throughout the alley just loud enough to startle the bickering villains. "Lithe, you will not harm the girl," he told her sternly, "we did not come here to make a scene." Lithe nodded disappointingly and with a slight attitude. "Now, _Jack_, I have given you plenty of time to decide whether or nothing you will join us. I would very much like to know your answer." Jack crossed his arms and huffed.

"This is the second damn time you've attacked me, the last not turning out so well for me. So, give me one good reason why I should." Penoso chuckled and it reminded Jack of his dear father…which really pissed him off.

"It is your destiny." Jack snorted in amusement.

"…well, that wasn't _cliché_…and it's _not_ my destiny."

"Well, it doesn't really matter whether or not it is or isn't, 'cause we will take you by force if we so have to," Lithe alleged with a giggle, somewhat insanely.

"Oh, yeah, that's a GREAT way to get me to help. Yeah, that'll work…dumbass. Besides, I'd like to see you try and take me." By this point in time, Lithe was ready to go on a killing spree and slaughter everything she could get her hands on.

"Fine," she barked and tossed the unconscious Plio off to the side like a piece of trash. Jack, not realizing it, made a slight gestured toward his beloved, a slight gestured that did not go unseen. Lithe smiled sinisterly and stuck the tip of her blade straight out into Jack's face. "So you do care for this girl's well-being."

"Not so much so, I just have a bit of honor—that you seem to lack—and I don't much like the idea of picking on and attacking someone that cannot fight back."

"Well then, I guess it's a good thing that you're awake, otherwise," she pulled her sword back, "…this just wouldn't be any fun." Her insane smile spread wide across her face as she swung the katana around, but Jack ducked backwards just as the blade passed over him and he kicked it out of her hand. Irate, Lithe smashed her heeled boot into his chest like earlier. Jack crashed into the boxes and whatnot behind but jumped back up to perform a turning kick into the side of her face, causing her to fall against the wall behind her. '_How the fuck did he manage to do that?!_' she thought, holding her throbbing, already bruised cheek, '_I swear he's gonna di—_' "AHH!" shrieking, she spun out of the way in time to avoid the Louisville Slugger coming down on her, snatching up her katana as she bent over. Lithe held up the sword with one hand while she kept her balance with the other as she kneeled on the ground. The force from unbreakable bat when it slammed into the unbreakable blade was so great it just about broke her arm. She cried out in pain, and her arm began to lower, but Jack kept pushing down, his contacts no longer hiding the hidden insanity that lay dormant deep inside of the clown prince of crime. "Damnit! I'm a fucking woman! You can't do this!" she cried out.

"Shit like that doesn't matter when it comes to villains and heroes," he said, calmly yet still made it sound horrifyingly psychotic, "besides," he leaned over the bat to get closer to her face, "we kill mercilessly, right?"

"You know, if you weren't so fucking stubborn, we wouldn't have to do this," Lithe managed to declare in grunts while the two struggled to keep the other's weapon from moving. Although, it wasn't really that much of a challenge for the much stronger Jack. The teen laughed once and then, Lithe's arm gave out. The woman fell backwards on to her forearms looking up, terrified, at the smiling criminal and the Slugger held high over his head.

"You really shouldn't piss me off…_**period**_." The heavy bat came down over his head, and, in retaliation, Lithe grabbed her blade once more and swung it up and around, toward his ribcage.

No pain came…for either. No collision, no blood, no cries of pain, nothing, only silence. Jack's eyes instantly changed from insane to wide with fear, for he could no longer move, nor even speak, and from the looks of it, neither could she. They were both frozen, figuratively, in mid-attack. Their eyes drifted in the direction of the street and the clearly annoyed Penoso.

"You must forgive Lithe, dear prince, for she has a tendency to over react and do something incredibly…_stupid_." The red-head's hazel eyes were fuming once again in rage. "I do not wish to force you to comply, but we desperately need your help. I believe we have all that we need to accomplish our goal, but we do not know this city very well." Jack tried to speak but is mouth was still locked. "Oh, sorry."

"Screw you—" the sound of his own shout startled the teen, when had his mouth become unstuck? Penoso shook his head in disappointment.

"I know you are angry with us, yes I understand that how I handle things last time was over the top, but, please would you at least come and see what we have to offer?" Jack was silent, his wyes staring aggressively into the glowing green abysses that stared right back. He knew if he did not comply it would increase the chance of Plio being injured. He knew what he had to do, and it made him want to die.

"Alright, I'll go," he whispered, a feeling shame washing over him. And he could not see it, but he knew Penoso was smiling…menacingly. "But only for a little while, I do have school tomorrow," he finished with a smirk.

"Very well." With that said, Jack and Lither were released from their hold; Jack stumbled forward, but quickly gained his composure, and Lithe fell flat on her back, dropping her blade. With a growl, she snatched off the concrete, and getting to her feet, she pointed the katana at her partner's face, her glare pure dementia, and growled through gritted teeth.

"If you ever use that on me again, I'll fucking castrate you." Penoso cocked his head to the side, watching her, her chest rising and falling rapidly with the need to spill blood still climbing. Gliding his gloved fingers a little ways down the side of the blade, he smiled and spoke very softly and lovingly.

"Lithe, my dear love…" he pulled on the sword harshly, yanking her toward him, and, with his free hand, grasped her throat firmly, "if you _ever_ threaten me again, it will be the end of your dreadful life," he told her, his voice still soft yet livid, and his eyes were deadly.

"Try it," she managed to choke out.

Jack watched on as they stood there like that for what seemed like a really long time. Penoso's hand clenched angrily around her neck, her own hand pulling and clawing at his, gasping for air. Neither of them ever took their eyes off of the other's, nor did they ever blink. And…did he call her love? '_Holy shit, are they…together?_' There was no way that two people could act like _that_ and there be some kind of love between them. Then again, there were his parents. "You know what," he finally said, "you guys are almost as bad as my mom and dad." Penoso's hand released his lover's throat the moment the words left Jack's lips, and Lithe immediately spun around, glee filling her face.

"I'm almost as good as Harley Quinn?!" she said in excitement, clapping her hands together.

"…Yeah, that's not what I said…"

"That's so awesome!" she continued, acting as if the whole choking incident never happened, "She was, like, the greatest villainess ever!" Jack was speechless, and not in the good way.

"Really?" he asked flatly.

"Yes, she was incredible."

"Re-eeally?" Jack could honestly say he was amazed.

"Yeah, I remember watching her on the news and wanting to be just like her."

"_Really_?" he placed his fist on his hips and grinned.

"YES! Is that so hard to believe?" she barked in irritation.

"No…well, yeah, but I guess that's just because she's my mother…and she's an idiot…" the last bit was muttered under his breath and to himself.

"Well, then, if you two are finished, shall we be on our way?" Penoso asked.

"Can I at least take her home?!" Jack shouted while pointing at the still unconscious Plio.

"We do not have time, just call her parents and make a story about how you were mugged." Jack resisted the strong urge and desire to break the stupid bastard's neck. With a feeling of regret and reluctance, Jack pulled out his cell phone and began dialing. It only rang once.

"Hello?" Selina answered, sounding a bit out of breath.

"Hey, Mrs. C—_Wayne_." Jack tried to sound cheery, but it was proving to be difficult.

"Jack!" Jack pressed the phone closely to his ear to keep the other's from hearing her call him that. "How's your date going?!"

"Um…good…" Oh, how he didn't want to do this.

"Jack? You sound upset…" '_She's good,_' he thought to himself, "…did something happen? Jack?"

"Um," he glanced over at Penoso who nodded his head as if to say, 'Go on,' Jack nodded back, then continued, "you need to come and get Plio."

"Why? What happened to her?!" Jack didn't answer. "…It was those _people_ wasn't it," he could hear the fear and anger in her frantic voice.

"…Yeah…we were…_mugged_. She was rendered unconscious," Selina gasped in horror, but Jack continued, "but she's okay. I'm gonna have Bre stay with her while I go after the guy." Selina was quiet, but only for just a moment, and when she spoke, her voice as suddenly harsh.

"They're making you go with them, aren't they?"

"Yeah," he answered softly, smiling to throw off the two people watching.

"Be careful."

"Don't worry about be, Mrs. Wayne…" he smiled genuinely and whispered, almost inaudibly, "…I'm the Clown Prince of Crime."

"…Hmm…almost." His smile disappeared.

"So, yeah, I'll call you later and let you know what happened. Bye." He hung up and sighed heavily, lowly. The pain in his heart was eating away at him, he wanted to stay with her, hold her close in his arms until she was better, but he could not. He had to leave her there, cold, alone, and unconscious. It was for her own safety, which he knew made no sense, leaving her in a dark alley but it was what was best, and he had no choice.

"Are you going to tell someone she's out here?" Penoso asked when the clone teen made no attempt to dial a number. Without looking up or answering he searched the numbers in his cell until he found the one Plio had given him earlier, and began to text.

_Bre,_

_Plio and I were mugged just outside, she's okay, but they knocked her out. I need you to stay with her in the alley til her mother gets here. I'm going off after the guy._

Sliding the phone shut, Jack breathed deeply, feeling extremely shitty. He then waltzed up to the cloaked Italian, and stared him dead in his untrustworthy eyes once more; the outlines of his hidden face beginning to show. Slowly, a devious grin began form upon his make-up covered lips, as he asked menacingly, "Ready?" Again, Jack could not see the man's smile but, somehow, he just knew it was there, mocking him. Penoso held out his arm toward the street and tilted his head slightly.

"Then let us be on our way." Straightening himself, Penoso gestured for Lithe to follow and she did as she was told. The two started to head out of the alley, and Jack, after taking a moment to take one last look at his lovely Plio, followed sluggishly behind. He wanted to run back and be with her, he wished he had been able to take care of those two so that none of that would have ever happened. But that was impossible, all that he could do was look back and, very quietly, whisper,

"I love you."

_x__**X**__x_

Well, there you go. I hope you liked it. Jackendaboks is one confusing character, the way he presents himself and all, and you never really know when he's acting and when he's being real. I think that's what makes him so cool. And Lithe is just one crazy SOB. I wonder what's going to happen to Plio. I wonder if she'll be okay, if someone get's to her in time. I just don't know. We'll just have to wait to see. :-) Stay tuned for more!

Luv ya!

Dyno


	9. A Brief Meeting

A single came loose and broke off from underneath his foot, almost causing him to fall

READ EVERYTHING UP HERE BEFORE READING THE CHAPTER! WELL AT LEAST THE FIRST PARAGRAPH! (I still don't own Batman…who da thunk?)

Okay, here it is, chapter 9! I know, can you believe it?! I got it out in just a couple of weeks! That's the fastest I've EVER updated!! GO ME! Anyways, I'm going to go ahead and warn all of you, THERE IS LEMON IN THIS CHAPTER! And…it is my first time writing a lemon, so please go easy on me…Oh, and I have it marked where it begins and for those of you who don't like lemons, can stop once you get there, the way I did it is so it kinda has two endings, one before the lemon, and one after. If you stop before, it will have no affect on your understanding of the story. I promise.

Okay, let me apologize to my beta _NoRA_ (I think NRA is cooler) for saying she wasn't as insane as Lithe…she is…believe me…she's just not a homicidal psychopath…that I know of…

And thank you all for your reviews…they really a whole lot to me, y'all just don't know. Writing is what I want my life to revolve around, so when I get a review saying my story is awesome or I did a great job with the update, it really makes my day. So thank you so much!

And sometime tomorrow or in the next few days, I'm redoing chapter 7, what happens won't be different, but it will sound better. I had to use a substitute beta and NoRA wants to make it better…which I have no doubt she'll be able to do. YOU DA BEST NoRA!!

Now, go on and read the awesome chapter that is chapter nine!……I know…I'm retarded…NOW GO READ!

**Chapter 9: A Brief Meeting**

_x__**X**__x_

A single shingle came loose and broke off from underneath his foot, almost causing him to fall. Jack grabbed onto the sill of his bedroom window, gripping it tightly, to keep from plummeting three stories to his death…or hospitalization. He had always hated sneaking into his house like this, but he didn't want to take a chance on being stopped by his dad, or his mom, she'd want to know why he was home so early. Not to mention, he had two demented imbeciles waiting for him on the ground below. Sliding the window open as slowing and as silently as he could, he stuck his head in and listen. The sound was all too familiar. '_I bet Plio has never had to listen to her parents do THAT before,_' he thought as the need to throw up intensified. "At least I don't have to worry about being heard," he said to himself, one leg through the window.

"Please make haste, Jack, we want to get you back before it gets too late, as we promised," Penoso shouted up to the clown in a whisper. Jack rolled his eyes and continued into this room. Stepping onto the floor, he searched his room for what he was looking for, keeping the light off to avoid any attention on the room, not that he needed. As he made his way to his desk, he had managed to trip over everything in his path, even though he could see clear as day.

"C'mon, Jack," he growled at himself, "get your mind off of her, she's fine." His eyes found the old wooden desk and his hands searched through the piles of junk to find his make-up remover. '_What if some drunken dude finds her and rapes her?_' "Err…Stop it, Jack," he shook his head and the thought. He was beginning to become annoyed with himself and his irrational thoughts; the entire way back to his house, he had come up with just about every scenario possible for Plio, and they all ended with her being kidnapped, rapped, or killed…or a combination of all three. But he knew that none of them world happen. Bre would have gotten his text message right away and would have gone straight to her, along with everyone that was there. "But what if she didn't get it?" he asked himself, picking up the remover. "What if her phone was in her purse?" He walked over to the mirror on his wall and began to wipe away the concealer. "No, she got the message," he told himself, sternly, "she got it, and she went outside right away. So stop worrying!"

Jack ran the cloth—coated in the thick, disgusting goo his mom gave him—against his face angrily, gritting his teeth. How could he have ever let this happen? A week and a half ago he and Plio were just friends and everything was good, and fine, but then they started a relationship and her life began to go straight to Hell in a hand basket. Maybe the best thing to do was to leave her, maybe leave Gotham, at least until he could stop these people. His hands dropped to his side. He stared at his reflection, his face half white, half tan, and wondered where exactly he stood. On the one hand, he hated to see people suffer, mostly women and children, and he loved being a normal kid, but…on the other hand, he did have a deep desire to wreak havoc and cause chaos. Would he be able to do both, or was he going to have to choose? And if he did have to, which would he choose: a life with the one he loves more than anything, or a life doing what his mind so desperately wants?

Maybe leaving her was the best option, so he could figure all this out…but he knew he could never leave her. It would kill them both if he were to do that, and he would not be able to protect her if he stayed away. No, he had to stay and protect her. Perhaps he would have to make that choice some day, but that day was not now. Right now he had to gain Penoso's trust and find a way to bring him down. This was HIS city, and no one was going to take over it but HIM.

Jack scrubbed the cloth against the rest his face, collarbone, and hands, leaving pure white skin behind. Staying quiet, he made his way to his dresser, avoiding the squeaky floor boards, and pulled out his favorite shirt and pants, grabbing his shoes as he went to his bed. He tossed his clothing onto the comforter and got undressed, still trying to block out the thoughts of his beloved…and the sounds from his mom and dad.

Lithe crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently, sighing in aggravation. "What's taking so long?" she asked, her voice fuming with frustration.

"It has not been that long, my dear, only a few minutes. So, please," he said, trying to stay composed, "_be quiet_. You've caused enough trouble already, and I'm still trying to decide whether or not you should be punished." Lithe smirked sinisterly at her lover; she loved it when he was pissed off.

"I don't know what you're talking about, love, I did nothing. _He _over reacted," she stated matter-of-factly. "Did you really expect me not to defend myself?" He did not answer, but kept his eyes on the window above them. Lithe smiled happily, thinking she had won their conversation, "He'll learn his boundaries."

"As will you," he said flatly, yet it still had a sense of coldness to hit. She gawked at him in bewilderment.

"What the fuck are talking about?" her anger flared as she turned to him, her fist clenched tight.

"Whenever he is in our presence…if you _ever_ start a fight with him, or egg one on, your life will not be pleasant." Her jaw dropped and her blood boiled over.

" The fuck?! I did _nothing_! If I'm attacked, I will fight back. I don't give a DAMN who in the HELL it is, you stupid bastard!" She roared in severe annoyance and stomped her foot hard on the ground. Penoso's eyes snapped to hers, murderous anger blazing brilliantly.

"Speak to me in such a manner again, and find out what I'll do." Lithe rolled her eyes, crossing her arms back, and turning towards the house.

"The phrase is, '_talk to me like that again, and see what happens_,' you stupid son of a bitch." With his tolerance depleting, Penoso, in a fit of rage, grabbed a fistful of her hair from the ponytail closest to him, and forced her to look at him, her head snapping downward a little. Lithe gasped and cried out as he head was yanked around like a ragdoll. "SHIT! DAMNIT LET GO!"

"SILENCE!" She instantly stopped shouting, his eyes silencing her. "I am warning you, _Melissa_," his voice was enough to make anyone fearful for their life, "do not make me angrier than you already have. Or have you forgotten what happened last time?" he alleged through gritted teeth as she tore at his hand, but he would not loosen his grip. "Well, do you?" She smirked.

"Do you remember what happen to you?" He jerked her hair down harshly, causing her to cry out once more. They stood with their faces only inches apart with her struggling to get out of his hold, much like they had but only an hour earlier. Their breathing became more and more erratic, their eyes burning with insane passion, and then…Lithe took hold of his face, surprising him just a bit, and crushed her black lips against his. "Forgive me, my love," she whispered against his warm mouth, "you know how I get when I'm frustrated." She kissed him again, her tongue running across his bottom lip.

Penoso smiled and his hand slowly released her hair and moved to the small of her pulling her close, "Of course, my dear," he murmured as he pulled back a bit, the vibrations from his voice exciting her, "Just don't let it happen again," he kissed her lips softly and swiftly while cupping the side of her face with his free hand, the corners of her mouth curling. '_I'm so damn good,_' she thought to herself with satisfaction.

"Oh, you know it will happen again, but it'll be okay," her hands slide seductively down his chest, kissing him passionately, " 'cause the make up," she kissed him again, her hands going further, "is so-oo worth it," she kissed him once more, her fingers curling around the front rim of his pants. His thumb stroked her cheek, his expression hidden, before he captured her deranged smile. The kiss was intense, aggressive, passionate, each struggling for dominance, neither giving in. Penoso held her face in place, deepening the kiss, his warm tongue fighting her to explore the places it had been so many times before. Lithe pulled and tugged on his pants, until she was able to slip a hand inside. Penoso moaned at her sensational touch, and kissed her harder.

"You know, I take back what I said earlier," the two psychopaths jerked apart, gasping in shock and for air, their eyes going straight to the roof, "you guys are _definitely_ worse than my parents ever were…" Jack sat on the edge of his window sill with his arms crossed and his eyebrow cocked, watching the 'show' below. "…Well, at least with the whole 'get in a fight and make up within seconds' thing," he said sarcastically, drawing an invisible circle around them. His pure white skin glistened in the pale moon light, his yellow eyes bright with amusement at their embarrassment, his red smile reaching ear to ear.

Lithe, her body going into defense mode, scowled murderously at the teen, blood-thirst in her hazel eyes. Jack, noticing her extreme aggravation, waved at her, his smile widening, egging her on. Oh, how she could not wait for the day when she would be able to run her blade across his throat; she would _thoroughly _enjoy it. "Aw, don't look so mad," he said with fake sincerity, "you can finish with him later, but right now you need to tend to me." Lithe's angry glare turned to a mocking grin, and Jack's disappeared as his face was now engulfed with mortification. "I-I-I mean, you need to take me back to your place to show me what you've got." Trying hard to hold back the laughter, Lithe crossed her arms and cocked her eyebrow, as he had done just a moment before, her smile growing. Jack's normally white cheeks were burning with a bright red; he quickly turned his head to look away, pissed that his smart remarks had backfired.

"Well, if that's what you really want," she said, as seductively as she could without cracking up. Jack's eye twitched, but he said nothing, just rose from his seat.

"Let's just go," he said coarsely, as he walked across the roof and began to climb down, never looking at either of them. Penoso nodded in agreement, shooting his partner a disapproving glower, who in return rolled her eyes, giggling to herself in victory. "So, where exactly is this place of yours, anyways?" he asked as is two escorts emerged from around the corner.

"Not too far, actually. It is beneath an old warehouse about half a mile from here," he answered, pointing off into the distance.

"No shit!" Jack exclaimed in astonishment, "That place was _yours_?" He thought back on that night, and the large room with books and paper strewn about the floor and tables as if it had been ransacked. Then his thoughts led him to the memory of his first kiss with Plio, and he struggled to keep his happiness from showing.

"Yes, and I assume, you must have been the one who had stumbled upon it?"

"Yeah," he muttered, still thought in thought, "but don't worry, I didn't touch anything."

"Of course you didn't," Penoso concurred, knowing differently. "Now, let us be on our way." The three criminals began to make their way down the long, dark road, Lithe staying at her leader's side, and Jack not too far behind. '_I know someone's viciously murdered her by now…DAMNIT, SHUT UP!_'

The walk to the warehouse was no different from the walk to Jack's house: awkward and unpleasant. Once again he could think of nothing but his beloved Plio lying in the alley, crying for him…even though he knew she would never actually cry over getting knocked out. But the thought of her doing so tore him inside out. Oh, why did he have to let that happen? No, he had to go bac—just as Jack's gaze looked up from the shadowy ground, he saw it; the black car he'd known his entire life. It drove by a long ways up the road, heading back toward Wayne Manor, and Jack's heart did a flip of excitement. '_She's okay,_' he told himself, '_If she wasn't, they'd be heading toward the hospital, not home._' A feeling of ease washed over him, "Jack, are you coming?" Penoso called out from the door of the warehouse—along with a feeling of determination.

"Yeah," he called back, "I'm comin'." Jack cautiously entered the old, abandon building, keeping his eyes wide open, scanning every bit of his surroundings for possible traps. Penoso walked up to the large door on the floor and, bending over, took hold of the handle and pulled it open. "Here we are, after you my dear," he said and motioned for Lithe to enter first, she smiled sweetly, accepting his gesture. "You're turn, young Jack," Jack, standing but a couple of feet away, did not answer, but continued to examine the murky room. Penoso, taking notice of his vigilance, placed a hand on the teenager's shoulder, making him turn his attention to the elder man. "I promise you," Penoso, began, "there is no trap. We would never endanger the son of the Joker…well, not intentionally, accidents do happen." Jack could hear the dark humor in his voice and laughter, and laughed along with him.

"Right." As he walked past the older criminal, Jack's bright yellow eyes met Penoso's brilliant green ones, and he saw something. He wasn't sure what it was—Treachery? Insanity? Pure, undeniable evil?—but there was definitely something there, and he did not trust him at all. Jack jumped down into the long, ominous tunnel, for the second time and what he felt would not be the last, and sauntered toward the light, '_That better be coming from the room…_' he thought with a smirk. The tunnel was lit enough now that he could see that he was walking down a slope, and when he finally approached the room, his jaw dropped in bewilderment. It was HUGE, a lot bigger than he remembered, then again, last time it was lit just enough for them to see what it was. Lithe was standing at the entrance with her hand extending, waiting for him to take it, a forced smile upon her face. Smiling back he took it and she helped him into the room, though he didn't really need it, he just enjoyed pissing her off. "This place is incredible," he breathed, taking a step into the open area, they were a lot deeper underground than he had thought. '_It's almost as big as the bat cave._'

"It serves its purpose, yes," Penoso said, entering behind the teen, "and it is quite nice," he finished with satisfaction in his voice. Jack glanced around, taking in what he saw; there wasn't much too it, but still, he had to hand to the guy, she seemed to know what he was doing…so why did he need _his_ help?

"You've got quite a lot of followers don't cha?" he asked, observing the large group of cloaked individuals busy with something or another. Each of them was covered up in the same fashion as their 'oh so great' leader. "More than I had anticipated actually."

"Yes, we have got about 30 people, but a handful of them are out getting…supplies."

"Heh, you mean groceries," he laughed, turning his head but jumped back in shock, "AH!"

"What is it?" Penoso asked in confusion.

"You have a _face_!" he shrieked while pointing at the Italian's uncovered face, and keeping his distance.

"Yes, well, I suppose I would," he stated with a smile, lightly pushing the teen's arm down, "if I did not, I do not believe that I would be here, due to needing a nose and mouth for breathing, which are located on the face. Therefore, of course I have a face." Jack's arm shot back up.

"But you have a face!" Penoso rolled his eyes in a sigh of displeasure, "I was starting to think you were just a living shadow! I mean, even in the light I didn't see any trace of a face! And look, you've even got a goatee, and shaggy hair, how cute," he managed to say while keeping a straight face. Lithe snorted slightly at Jack's mockery of her boss, much to her annoyance.

"You did not see my face because I did not want you to."

"Ri-ight," Jack said, nodding his head very slowly.

"So, now that we have established that I do indeed have a face, shall I do the introductions?" Jack shrugged, not exactly caring, and, Penoso, his attention to the room before him, clapped his hands; each and every pair of eyes in the room were now directed towards them. All the staring gave Jack a feeling of unease, he hated being in the spotlight almost as much as he hated dear old dad. "Gentlemen," he began, "I would like to introduce to you all, Jackendaboks, the son of the Joker. And the one who will help us in our plan of domination." The men in the room stood at once and greeted him with either a 'nice to meet you,' 'what an honor,' or just a simple nod, and then got back to work immediately.

"Heh, I half expected a bigger greeting than that," Jack muttered as they watched the men work religiously on whatever they were planning, "hell, I thought there'd have been some banners, or even streamers."

"We were going to have a cake, but we are working on a tight schedule," they both laughed and Jack hurried down the couple of steps leaving his hosts behind to rummage through the stuff in the room. "Would you like something to drink, Prince Jack?"

"Yeah, sure, thanks," he muttered with a twitch.

"Melissa," he spoke softly, "why don't you go and get our guest something to drink…to reconcile for the incident earlier."

"I'd rather not, and he can kiss my ass," she said bluntly and grudgingly. His iron grip found her throat once more, clasping it tightly.

"That wasn't a question." His eyes were his eyes were fierce and unforgiving, but she did not fear him…she never did. Ferociously, he let her go, growling when he spoke, "Now do it." Smiling psychotically, she stomped on his foot harshly, digging the heel of her boot into his bone. Penoso bit back the scream of scream of incredible pain, breathing heavily and angry as he watched her stroll away.

"Um…you okay, dude?" Jack asked seeing the pain on the elder man's face, having missed what had just happened. Pulling himself together, Penoso grinned and nodded, stumbling somewhat as he turned to face the teen.

"I injured my knee last week, and the pain seems to come and go," he lied while taking a sharp breath.

"What's this?" Jack asked, stopping by a long table occupied by five large screen computer monitors, and pointing at one of them, it, like all the others, displayed a grid of six videos; each looked like a different road in Gotham.

"Video feed," he told him, hobbling over to the table, "from the cameras of Gotham City's major streets. This way we can keep up with which parts of the city being patrolled by the police and which are not."

"Ahh…that's got to come in handy." Now why hadn't _he_ ever thought of that?

"Yes, it really does. We use these computers for hacking as well. Anything we desire to know, we can get."

"Have you figured out how to hack into the CIA?" Jack inquired, glancing over to his host, who was looking away in slight irritation.

"No…not yet." A small smile of self satisfaction tugged at the corners of Jack's red lips, '_Heh…I did…when I was nine._' "They have a formidable defense system." '_Loser…_'

"Here you are, _Jack_," Lithe said with a smile, though the bark in her voice was obvious. He replied with a sly, devious grin and thanks.

"Merci beaucoup."

"Fuck you—"

"Melissa!" Penoso's patience for the hot tempered red-head and her mouth were beginning to decline rapidly. The two lovers glared at one another, waiting for the other to do or say something.

"Um, what else you got?" the young clown asked, cautious of the tension, burning with curiosity to see what exactly it was they were planning to do, and what they had to use to accomplish it.

"Not much at this moment, but enough, still," he told the teen, giving his woman one last look of warning. Jack's eyes, surveying again, landed on the many bookshelves in the vase underground chamber. They covered a thirty foot wall side to side, top to bottom, and each shelf was completely stocked.

"What are the books for?"

"Those are books of blueprints."

"No shit! Too what?!" he exclaimed in reaction to the idea that _all_ of the books were blueprints. "There hundreds of them."

"They are to all the major buildings currently in use in Gotham City …and there are a little over two thousand." Jack was flabbergasted, where in how in the hell did he get all of them? If he had stolen the blueprints to Gotham City, wouldn't it have been in the news? Of course it would have, there'd have probably been mass panic along with it. "Is something wrong, young Jack?" He asked, the wonder showing on Jack's clownish face.

"How did you get all these? I mean, wouldn't someone have noticed? I didn't hear anything about it on the TV." Penoso smiled in amusement at Jack's assumption.

"We just used a bit of _persuasion_, that's all," Lithe answered for her leader, "Not everyone takes to my blade as easily as you do, Jack."

"So you threatened them, nice. I wouldn't have gone through the trouble. Then again, I'm just lazy and you're psychotic," Her smile did little to hide her incredible wrath. "Oh, speaking of which," he continued, suddenly remembering what the place had looked like before, "what had happened here? When I came down here before it looked like a bomb had gone off. Shit everywhere."

"The lovely, Lithe, here, as you have experienced first hand, is know to over react," the red-head attempted to protest, but Penoso quickly held up a hand, silencing her. "One day, a couple of weeks ago, she and I found ourselves in yet another quarrel, and her extreme temper got the better of her…and we have yet to replace everything that was lost." His eyes glanced at the smiling woman beside him.

"Yeah, and I won that argument, too," she muttered to no one in particular, her self-pride showing through her menacing eyes.

"Riiight…so, anyways, why do you need me? I mean, what exactly are you guys doing down here?"

"It is simple really, we plan to take over the city." Here they go again, Jack could never understand why people thought they could 'take over' one city. The government would just swoop in and take them out. Then again, this man seemed way too intelligent to not realize that himself. "I know what you are thinking, young prince, I do not mean it literally. I am not talking about something like a throne, no, I am talking about taking over this city by controlling the underground crime world."

"But there really isn't a crime world anymore. Not for a good decade now. After the Batman put all the big mob bosses and villains behind bars for good, everyone else just seemed to fall apart."

"Yes, I am aware of that, however, with your help and your father's connections, we can rebuild it—"

"And once we do," Lithe blurted out, cutting him off, "we can own the public officials of this _fine_ city and do whatever the fuck we want!" Both males, leaning away a little, eyed the mad woman who had gone off into her own little, diabolical world.

"So…um…how exactly do you intend on getting the crime world back up and running?" Jack asked, slowly taking his eyes off the katana wielding sociopath.

"That is where you come in, Prince Jack—"

"Just, damnit, call me Jack. That whole 'Prince Jack' thing is just creepy. Okay?"

"Very well. Now as I was saying, I will need for you to help me train my men on how to be a proper villain." Jack green eyebrow rose slightly in curiosity.

"A proper villain?"

"Yes, they will need to know how to steal, rob, mug, and wreak havoc without being captured. And if they are captured, they will need to know how to escape." The look in Penoso's eyes sent a cold shiver down the clown's spine, the determination he had in his face reminded him of the look he once saw in his father's face when he fought Batman. "They will need to know how to attack mercilessly. We will bring the criminals back to this city." All of the sudden Jack was uncertain about helping him, but something was keeping him from protesting. "Do we have a deal?" Penoso reached out his hand and, reluctantly, Jack took it and shook it.

"Deal."

"Very good, you will be seeing us in a few days, my dear boy," he said with a warm smile, but his voice was treacherous, and his eyes untrustworthy, however, Jack went along with it anyways, "but for now you must return to your home, for you do have school in the morning."

"Yeah…right," A smirk, a smirk of a criminal, the smirk that was Jackendaboks, crept onto red lips of the clown prince of crime showing his yellow tinted teeth, a smirk that had not been seen since the incident with Andrew Moneyworks, and it felt good. As the two of them stood, shaking hands on a deal to take over Gotham, Jack felt a strange need…a need to do something bad. "I'll see you guys later," he finally said, and let go of the Italian's hand. "I'm expecting more shit when I come back, if you guys don't have what it will take, I'm not helping," he called back as he headed out, his mind was racing at a thousands miles an hour. What was with this urge he was having? He'd never had one like this before. Could it have been—no, it couldn't have. It was probably just his imagination, paranoia, and he didn't have time for that, he had somewhere to be, someone to check on, but first he need to make a pit stop…

"He doesn't trust us," Lithe growled through gritted teeth, spinning around to the remaining members in the room, her eyes flaming with insanity, "YOU IDIOTS! YOU COULDN'T HAVE BEEN MORE CONVINCING?!" the men, jumping in surprise, all began to back up against the back wall, cowering in fear as she approached them with her katana unsheathed. "I PROMISE YOU, IF YOU HAVE RUNIED THIS FOR US, I WILL CASTRATE YOU AL—"

"Melissa, that will be enough, they did nothing wrong." She stopped, turning her head so she was starting at the older man, her stunning face still consumed with rage.

"But he doesn't trust us! Everything's ruined! Now he has no reason to come back!"

"On the contrary, my beautiful love," he spoke calmly, enticingly, her anger instantly subsiding the moment his hand touched her cheek, "it is for that very reason why he will, indeed, come back."

"But if he does not trust us, why would he come back?"

"He's unsure. He does not know if he trusts us or not. His curiosity alone will bring him back…that and his need to cause chaos like his father." Penoso gaze adverted to the fearful followers and his brow creased in displeasure, "Get back to work!" he order, and the men scurried back to their tables and whatnot.

"Do you really think we can pull this off, Penoso?" she asked, turning his face back towards her.

"Of course, love, and when we do," slyly he lifted her off the floor and onto his desk, wrapping her legs around his waist, "the city will be ours," his lips met hers with an intent to dominate but attempt was flawed when she pushed him away. She held up a finger to his lips, silencing him, and then motioned for him to follow her to a heavy door off to the side in the research room and into their bedroom.

"What's going to happen," she asked quietly as she shut the door, making sure no one was near by, "if this doesn't go as planned?" she was spun around and slammed against the wall, her arms pinned above her head with one of his hands, while the other held her face.

"If you could learn to keep that mouth shut we would not have to fret about that, would we? Jack _would_ help us because it is what he wants. He wants to be bad, to commit crimes against humanity whether he realizes it or not. And if YOU don't mess it up," he snarled, smashing her head back against the doorframe, "he'll wreak havoc, and our men will be sent to cause more mayhem, which will make the rest of the thugs out there will come to play, and then…when the Joker lying deep within the boy is finally released, with some help, we will use him to take out that pest of a hero, _BD_," he spat her name with immense disgust. "So, do NOT ruin it!"

"I don't know why you're blaming me!" she screamed at him, "He's the one causing the fight!" her eyes flooded with frustration.

"He's is a teenager, you are an adult!"

"I HAVE AN ANGER PROBLEM! YOU KNOW THAT YOU STUPID PIECE OF WORTHLESS SHIT!" Angrily he yanked her head forward, so their nose just about touched and spoke in a murderous voice.

"How DARE you talk to me like that, you psychopathic WHORE!"

"SCREW YO—" Penoso seized her sensational, plump, black lips with such aggression Lithe almost blacked out from shock. Ripping her trench coat off in a fit of passion and tossing it to the side, he grabbed her round bottom tightly, and lifted her up. Lithe gasped—her mouth never leaving his—but did not protest, instead, she wrapped her legs back around his waist. "Pen-Penoso…" she breathed when he broke their kiss to move to her chin, removing the fluffy collar that covered her sensuous throat with one hand while the other held her up. Sucking and nipping the nape of her neck, as he began to undo the buttons of her top. "Wait," she panted, lifting his head. "Stop."

"What?" he spat aggravated.

"Do you think he'll be able to get rid of BD? He is, after all, friends with her."

"Well…" he grinned demonically, panting, "…we'll just have to change that…won't we?"

"For us…to be the most…feared people…in the free world," she laughed ruthlessly, between pants.

"It won't be free for much longer," his deep chuckle ran through is body, the vibrations making her moan in pleasure. "Let the games begin."

**LEMON BEGINS HERE! If you do not like lemons you may stop now, it will have no affect on your understanding of the story.**

Lithe clutched her lover's face and kissed him passionately, hungrily, as if she had been starved for so long. In one swift move her vest and undershirt were removed, ripped from her slender body, leaving her half exposed. Penoso's eyes ran over her beautiful body, a lustful need shining in those green abysses. His hand glided across her back, his rough fingers against her silk like skin sent a shiver down her spine. She viciously grabbed fistfuls of his hair, causing him to cry out before taking her mouth once more. "Pen-_oso_," she gasped as he began grinded his pelvis in hers pushing her further into the door, his excitement apparent. The few layers of clothing between them did little to suppress his hardening member.

Grunting as he thrust against her, his lips leisurely moved downward, leaving her bruised lips behind. His warm, seductive mouth traveled down her throat once more to her collarbone leaving a trail of bite marks as he went. The hand on her back slid upwards to fondle her left breast receiving a moan of sheer pleasure from his woman. He began to squeeze and massage it roughly; she slung her head back, her breathing erratic and spine arched in a plea for more. He pinched and rolled her soft nipple between his coarse fingers earning him additional moans and gasps of ecstasy, exciting himself more as well.

His mouth continued to travel down, hoisting her up higher as he went. Her hand stroked his soft, brown hair, taking a deep breath when his lips found her right breast. He flicked his moist tongue over her rosy bud, nibbling and sucking tenderly. She tasted heavenly to him, she always did. Grudgingly, he shifted his hand from her breast, leaving it throbbing in pain from his rough play, though she never objected, and slid it playfully down her curvaceous sides and along her still covered leg, stopping to stroke her inner thigh excitedly. He could feel her tense every time he got deeper between her legs. His fingers slithered their way up to the rim of her pants, pulling them down, little by little, finally slipping two fingers inside.

A whimper escaped her lips as he began to explore. She felt so damn good, wet and waiting for him. Slowly he began to rub back and forth, grunting as she moaned, going deeper and deeper until neither could take it any longer. Spinning them around, he carried her to the large bed and lay her down gently. He kissed her again, his mouth captivating hers with such intensity. Pulling her legs up, breaking their fiery lip-lock, his hands moved quickly to unzip and remove her thigh high boots, then her spandex pants. Standing at the end of their bed, he gaped at her now fully exposed body liked he always did. How she took his breath away.

Still holding one of her legs, he planted a soft kiss upon her ankle, and then worked his way up. His sweet kisses teased and taunted her, gradually inching closer and closer to his desired target. Torturously, his fingers crept back up her thighs, toying with her, as he stroked and kneaded them. Glancing up, his eyes meeting hers, he slowly pulled her legs further apart, and, smirking, got back to work. He kissed her lower lips and she moaned for more, something he intended on giving her plenty of. Happily he obliged to her request and dug in warm tongue deep within her. Biting her lip, she did her best to hold back her screams of pleasure, not wanting to contribute to the enjoyment of the possible audience on the other side of the door, though she found it easier said than done. With his arms wrapped around her waist, his tongue flickered vigorously inside her, hitting all the right spots, earning him her shrieks of bliss at last. Pulling back, he slid his two fingers back in has he had done earlier.

His fingers slid in and out leisurely, keeping rhythm with her breathing, taking his time. The motion gradually became faster and faster as his fingers pumped in and out at an unruly speed, "Pe…Pe…Peno…Penoso," she panted in lustful pleasure, "don…don't…stop…." He worked faster, placing a third finger inside, pumping as deep as he could go, bringing her closer to the edge, and then…he stopped and pulled his fingers out. Lithe sunk her head back into the pillow, attempting to calm her breathing while he stood again, this time to remove the clothing constraining him. Lithe watched, smiling, waiting, as he dropped the cloak to the floor and then tore the shirt from his torso. Sitting up, she crawled to the end of the bed, and placed her hand upon his chest, grinning devilishly. She leaned forward, her mouth mere millimeters from his, and spoke demandingly, her hot breath against his lips, "You really need," she said, slipping a hand into his pants, "to hurry the fuck up," her delicate fingers curled around his throbbing member, Penoso's eyes rolled into the back of his head as he grunted at her touch, " 'cause I'm getting tired of waiting."

Twisting him, she shoved him down on the bed into a sitting position, and, undoing the annoying button and zipper, yanked the rest of his clothing off, shoes and all. Taking her hand, he pulled her forward and down onto her back, pinning her down. Using his knee, he spread her legs and apart and lowered himself. "Try not to scream," he whispered into her ear, and plunged inside of her with force. The advice went ignored as she screamed loudly, but only for a moment, for her cries were muffled by is kiss. He did not waste anytime, and pulled out, and then slammed back into her. Over and over he crashed into her, hard and fast, as she kept paste with him, bucking her hips. "Harder…" she cried, breaking from his kiss, "fas…faster…please…" He loved when she begged, and did as asked, pumping harder, grunting relentlessly as he did so. "Pen…Peno…Peno…Penoso!" she cried out as she reached her climax at last. He followed close behind, calling her name out as well, spilling his seed inside her.

Panting vigorously and pulling out, he rolled over, bringing her with him, holding her shaking body tightly against him. She lay her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, waiting for peaceful sleep to overtake her. Penoso caressed her now messy hair lovingly, staring intensely at their ceiling in deep thought. "Penoso, my love," she whispered.

"Shhh, sleep now…and dream _sweet_ dreams," he told her, "for soon it will be time, my dear," his smile made of pure evil, "to introduce…The Night's Misery."

_x__**X**__x_

Okay, there you go! I hope you liked it. Like I said, it was my very first attempt at a lemon…so, go easy. I'm gonna try to have the next chapter out in a couple of weeks but I've got to clean up my room and the house first or my mom's gonna make me start paying rent…and we don't want that. So…yeah.

Thanks ahead of time to all of you who are going to take time out of your day to review, I really, truly appreciate it. Really. Thank you!!

Talk to you guys later…gotta go work on the book I'm trying to write. YAY! Oh, and if you want to see what Penoso looks like under his cloak, the link to his page on IMVU is on my profile page along with Lithe's.

L8er!

Dyno


	10. And So It Begins

Charlie told her it was gonna be okay, that she didn't need to worry about them

I STILL DON'T OWN BATMAN, BUT I OWN LIMERENCE AND THE CHARACTERS I CREATED!

Okay, I take back what I said in the last chapter, THIS is the fastest update I've EVER done! I feel so accomplished. But y'all don't care (nobody does), so enough with that.

Thank you to those who left reviews! It really means a lot! THANK YOU THANK YOU!! You guys rock!!

Anyways, this chapter starts off with Bre and Charlie right after they come outside in chapter eight, and continues with Plio's parents coming to get her…then she has a dream. And remember, Jack had had a dream too back in chapter six. Keep that in mind, and go back and read his dream if you have to.

Okay, on with chapter 10!

**Chapter 10: And So It Begins**

_x__**X**__x_

Charlie told her it was gonna be okay, that she didn't need to worry about them. She said John wouldn't let anything happen to Plio and that they were going to be at the restaurant soon. But that was twenty minutes ago, at which time they were already fifteen minutes late. Anxiously, Bre tapped her fingers on the table over and over, wondering where her friends were, and what was taking them so long. She tried to push the bad thoughts out her head and focus on her food, but she didn't have much of an appetite. The blonde punk watched her bookish friend poke at her chicken with her fork and rolled her eyes. "You gotta stop worrying about them. You're gonna make yourself sick."

"I know something happened," she whispered, her head sinking a bit. Her mind kept going back to hers and Charlie's venture outside; she knew someone was in that alley with them, she felt their presence, their stare. But it was weird, even though in her mind she knew she needed to be scared, she wasn't, not of what was there in front of her, that is, but what _it_ was scared of. She couldn't really explain it, but somehow she knew there was more going on there than what the two could see.

"I bet Jackendaboks got a hold of them," Charlie alleged, sounding strangely intrigued with the idea, her mind beginning to wander.

"Why would you say that?!" she exclaimed quietly in shock at her friend's statement. "You want them to get hurt?!" Bre gaze the teen absolutely mortified.

"No, of course not," she ensured her, waving her hand at the idea, "…but I wouldn't mind seeing that boy. I mean, he's so-oo…well…_delicious_." Bre stared on in repulsion as her friend fantasized about the city's biggest villain like he was a movie star. "He's got such a nice body, the moonlight showing off all those perfect muscles…And those _eyes_, they're so _damn_ sexy."

"Y-yeah…" Bre was starting to rethink the high regards she held for the blonde, "well…I doubt you'll get that wish," she declared with antipathy.

"And why not?" she inquired, annoyed at the idea that she would never get to have the one she lusted for so desperately.

"You know Jackendaboks doesn't mug people," Bre declared, surprised at her defense towards him. "It's not his style."

"No, you're right, he likes to steal. Mostly expensive stuff, like gold…and diamonds…and jewels…and diamonds…he would be SUCH an awesome boyfriend." As long as Bre had known her spunky friend, she never really understood her taste in boys, and her fixation on criminal activity. '_Lunatic._'

"You do realize a diamond _is_ a je—"_ BUZZ…_ "Huh? What was tha—" _BUZZ…_ Her eyes dropped to the green purse on the floor beside her leg, a spark of relief washed over her. _BUZZ…_"Oh, my phone. I hope it's them." Digging round inside, she grabbed the small rectangular object and pulled it out.

"Did they leave a message?" Charlie asked, stretching her neck, straining to see what was on the phone.

"Yeah, they left…" her heart skipped a beat, "…a text message…" her voice was no more than a whisper, "Oh my God…" She stared at the words in disbelief.

_Bre,_

_Plio and I were mugged just outside, she's okay, but they knocked her out. I need you to stay with her in the alley til her mother gets here. I'm going off after the guy._

Bre's calm breathing became more of a pant and then into full fledge hyperventilation. "Holy shit, Bre, what is it?!" Charlie leap from her seat and was at the frantic girl's side, trying to calm her down. "What's wrong, Bre. Tell me." She said nothing, just handed her the phone. Charlie's eyes quickly read the message, voice instantly becoming hoarse, "Oh my God. We have to go, c'mon." Snatching the brunette's hand, she yanked her from the table, shouting for their group of friends that everything was alright and to stay where they were. "Plio!" Charlie began to call once they were outside, searching the junk in the alley for her fallen comrade.

"I knew something bad had happened," Bre whispered almost silently as she, too, searched.

"Shut up, Bre!" she snapped in anger, whirling around, "I don't want to hear it—"

"PLIO!" Bre shouted, pointing, when she spotted her friend, lying in a pile of trash bags. Pushing Charlie out of the way, the youngest of the trio ran to the unconscious heiress, falling to her knees. "Plio! Are you okay?!" she shrieked. "Wake up!" Hysterically, she shook the elder teen, attempting to awaken her.

"Move!" the blonde shouted as she pulled Bre back and away from the comatose teen, "let me check her out…and stay calm." Sobbing and scared, Bre inched backwards, giving plenty of room, and hugged her legs tightly. She watched as Charlie began to thoroughly inspect the cataleptic adolescent, checking her legs, torso, arms, and head for any kind of abrasion, bruises, or knots on her head. Luckily, she did not find traces of any. "She doesn't seem to have a mark on her, and I doubt she has a concussion since there is no evidence of head trauma, but then again, it just might not have shown up yet."

"So…" Bre began, wiping her nose with the sleeve of her shirt, "she's gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure. I mean, if I had to guess, I'd say they just used chloroform to knock her ass out." Relieved, Bre sighed and crawled back to the other two. "Now we've just got to wait, for Mr. and Mrs. Wayne to get here to get her."

"I wonder why he didn't just call an ambulance."

"He probably realized she wasn't hurt, so there was no point." She paused in thought, "Shoot, I bet they have their _own_ emergency room in that huge house…I mean, they've got just about everything else in there." Bre, worried about their other friend, stood and locked her eyes on the street at the end of the alley. Where had he gone?

"I wonder if he's okay…and who he went with." Charlie's head popped up in puzzlement.

"You mean, 'went _after_?'"

"Yeah…sorry," she continued to stare off into the distance waiting for someone to show up. "He should have come back by now…or at least have called. I hope he's okay." Bre's curiosity and worry were beginning to get the best of her.

"I'm sure he's fine. He's a strong boy, I'm sure he can take care of himself," the blonde reassured the troubled brunette. "Now sit down and wait, Plio's parents will probably be here any minute."

……………_…forty-three minutes later…………………_

"I thought you knew where this place was," Bruce assumed as he drove the car through central Gotham, his anxious wife keeping her eyes on the sidewalks.

"It's up ahead," Selina told him, pointing to the next street.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I just got a little lost at first…oh, I pray my poor baby is alright," the tears were clear in Selina's exasperated voice as she struggled to keep from losing her calm; she couldn't understand how her husband could stay so collected at a time like this. "There!" she shouted as they approached the alleyway. Slowing down, Bruce pulled the car over and, before he could come to a complete stop, his wife was out the door, sprinting down the pathway. Ignoring the calls from her husband, Selina rushed to the side of her daughter and her two best friends. "Is she alright?!" she asked hysterically.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was just chloroform. I didn't see any injuries." She placed a sweaty palm on Charlie's shoulder, attempting to keep her balance while trying to calm down. "It'll be okay, Mrs. Wayne. You don't have any need to worry." Selina cupped the side of her sleeping daughter's face lovingly, regret and hatred tearing at her heart. Why did she let this happen? Her beautiful daughter tossed aside with the rest of the trash.

Fighting back another wave of tears, she stood up and motioned for Bruce, who had hurried to his wife's aid, to pick up their child. "Let's get her home," she managed to choke out. Holding Plio, Bruce leaned over and planted a soft kiss on his spouse's head, talking softly into her dark hair.

"It'll be fine. I promise. Come on." Thanking the two teenage girls and telling to go back to their other friends, the couple made their way back to the car. Giving her cell phone messages one last look, Bre did as demanded and, reluctantly, disappeared back inside with Charlie.

Selina, wishing to stay with Plio, sat in the back, her daughter's head resting in her lap as she stroked her hair. Her guilt consumed her, and it showed greatly on her sullen face. "It's not your fault, Selina," Bruce told her, his eye moving from the road to the rearview mirror and back.

"I shouldn't have let them go…_we_ shouldn't have let them go. Knowing about these people and their plans." The anger in the pit of her stomach began to boil. "We knew they were after her, and we still let her go out unprotected."

"She knows how to take care of herself, dear."

"Obviously not!" she snapped, her eyes blood shot.

"The bad guys would occasionally get the best of me, too," he reminded, staying calm. "And as I recall, you were one of them." Selina was silent, smiling slightly, contemplating on whether or not to reply to that, because, whenever she had gotten the better of him…there was _no_ villainy shit involved.

"I just can't believe," she spoke quietly, "that he would just leave her there. I trusted him." How could that boy let that happen? He said he loved her.

"He had no choice, honey, you know that."

"He could have fought them off; you've seen his hand to hand combat skills."

"Perhaps there were far too many, or her life was at stake. And…she doesn't even appear to be remotely injured." That didn't matter; her baby had _been_ left to lie in a dark alley because of some stupid thugs. But she realized she couldn't really be angry with the boy, he did what he thought would keep her safe and alive. For all she knew they could have been threatening to kill her if he did not go…but he wouldn't let them know she meant something to him, if they knew who he was. So, what really happened? '_It was probably nothing,_' she told herself, shaking her head to rid her mind of the thoughts, '_I'm just over thinking, I know it. He did what he had to do, and I cannot be mad with him. He loves her…I know that…it's just a mother's worry…that's all. I trust him completely…right?_'

"We're almost home, okay, honey?" Bruce said as the car came to the road which would take them straight to the prestigious Wayne Manor, seeking to soothe her concern. Selina nodded, never taking her eyes off her daughter, that is, until they approached the turn. Something in the back of her mind commanded her to look up, and when her eyes lifted, they met a pair of yellow eyes at the far end of the opposite road. The eyes were overwhelmed with relief, yet still bursting with fear and guilt. She wanted to go help him, to help get rid of those pests, but, she could not, there was something more important to her at the moment. In a somewhat slow-motion-like fashion, their stares where torn apart as the car made its turn, leaving the yellow eyes glistening with uncertainty and determination. "She doing alright back there, Selina?" Bruce asked, breaking his wife's thoughts.

"Um…yes, dear, she's doing fine…I hope."

For the rest of the ride home, the only noise coming from the vehicle was the sound of its own motor and the rocks beneath it. The silence was a bit awkward, neither parent really knowing what to say, whether to complain or defend. As the family approached the awaiting sanctity of their home, the car's speed slowly began to decrease until it came to a stop. Telling his spouse to stay put, Bruce quickly exited and hurried to the passenger door to his sleeping daughter. Gently he scooped back up into his arms and Selina slid out, shutting all the doors. She opened the front door and rushed him in, staying by her husband's side and making sure nothing got in his way while he took the teen to her room. "Here, lay her down," Selina whispered, clearing off Plio's bed, "should we try to wake her?"

"No," Bruce answered, his voice a bit stern, "we might as well let her sleep." Kissing his daughter's forehead, he straightened himself and took a step back, wrapping an arm around his wife, "There will be plenty of time to question her tomorrow." Giving her a tug, he led Selina from the room and shut the door, leaving the teenage superhero in the dark.

"Pleeese…don't…" The screams were agonizingly painful as she fell to her knees on the blood soaked street, coving her throbbing ears. "Stop it!" she screamed, "Please just stop!" She had tried everything in her power to stop him, but she just couldn't. No one could. She had failed and now everyone she cared about was being slaughtered like cattle.

Slowly she lifted her head, her watery blue eyes desperately scanning the mayhem surrounding her. "HELP!" someone called out, their anguish clear in their voice, "Someone, please help me!" Forcing herself up, BD ran in the direction the cries had come from, her once pink and black wardrobe now pure red, her hair a matted mess.

"Where you?!" she yelled, frantically searching for the person.

"Help me!" they screamed again, and she took off toward a large pile of rubble from a fallen building. "He-lp…me…please," the young woman was trapped beneath the multiple layers of concrete slabs, her body slowly being crushed, and, even though she knew there was no use, BD ran to her and began tossing pieces of the rubble aside. "It hurts so bad…" the woman cried, her tears long dried up, but the superhero's were not. Her eyes flooded over as she frantically tried to save the dying woman, but it proved to be a failure. The girl grabbed the hero's bruised hands and looked in the eyes, a look of plea on the elder's face. BD's eyes swelled up even more as the woman's hand fell limp, releasing the teen's, her eyes closing for the last time.

"So tragic, isn't it?" The voice sent a deadly chill down her spine as her eyes grew wide with fear; the same voice that had once filled her heart will love and joy. The clown teen knelt down beside the fallen heroine, his mouth at her ear, his hot breath on her muddy and bloody skin, "I do enjoy when they beg, don't you?" The anger and hatred boiled in the pit of her stomach and another wave of tears washed over her. "She was a bad person anyway. She was cheating on her husband."

"Doesn't mean she deserved to die, Jack," she snapped at him. Jack beamed sinisterly, his red smile reaching from ear to ear.

"Aww, there's no need to be mean, I'm just doing what I was meant to do." His snow white finger slipped under her chin and turned her head so she was looking at him, her beautiful blues eyes meeting his wicked yellow eyes. "You did once love me…and I get the feeling that it's still there."

"Don't flatter yourself!"

"I'm not." He stared at her messy face, his smile growing in excitement, "Even now, in this state, you are just as beautiful as you ever were, Plio," she attempted to look away, but he held her face in place. "You should have joined me, and it's still not too late. You could be my princess. What do you say?" But she said nothing, only glared. "That's just too bad, I'll certainly miss you," his lips captured hers like they had done so many times before, but now, it was not out of love. BD hand grabbed the side of his face and shoved him down with all her strength, escaping his grasp. The Clown Prince of Crime growled demonically as he watched the girl run off down the streets that had once been the great Gotham City. Rising from the ground, Jack picked up a broken flag pole and began to storm after his former girlfriend, his insanity consuming him once more.

BD sprinted through the streets searching for a place to hide, a way to escape the demon that was chasing her. Why had he done this? Why had Jack become the monster he had so desperately wished not be? He had killed everyone, even his own mother and father with no sense of mercy. The only person he let live was that man with the glowing green eyes, Penoso. The cloaked villain stood at the clown side as he devoted follower, doing exactly what he was told, no matter how horrific it was. That bastard has corrupted the one she loved so much, making him into some kind of a devil, sending him rampaging through the city, blowing up homes and businesses. How could a human being be so damn cold as to laugh as he watched people, of all ages, die in tremendous misery?

Becoming tired from her running, she turned down a dark alley, lit by a single light at the end. Cautiously, she crept down the passage, looking for some useful coverage, but it was too late. "You can run from me, BD. I know this city better than anyone," he said as she reached the end of the alleyway, standing but a foot behind her. Turning in defeat, she gazed at him in apology, his own gaze nothing but annoyance.

"I'm sorry, Jack, I should have helped you more to subdue the demon inside of you—" he pole collided with her abdomen, causing her to cry out in indescribable pain and pinning her to the wall behind her.

"Why don't you just shut up? Your voice is getting on my nerves." She gawked at him in shock as she gasped for air, gripping the pole. "You should have listened to me, my love; you should have done as you were told. But you didn't, you acted foolishly, and look what it got you." He held her face tenderly like he had only weeks before, and smiled at her affectionately, "As I said, I will miss you."

"Fuck…you…Jack," she managed to choke out, and he pushed the pole deeper, but she bit back the screams.

Leaning forward, he kissed her lips one last time, and then spoke softly, "My name…is Jackendaboks."

...

There was no one in sight, anywhere, and he had searched everywhere. This was his first actual time coming to this particular place, but he had no problem finding his way into the circuit room shutting off the power. He had actually been hoping it would have taken a little longer to keep his mind busy, but no success there. His steps were sluggish as he climbed the stairs to the main part of the large building. The whole "sneaking in" part of this operation pretty much stunk and wasn't as thrilling as he had wished.

Cautiously, he cracked the one of the doors ajar, just enough to take a peek, and, as he thought, he saw no one. Opening the heavy door, he entered the display room, his eyes instantly beginning to scan the valuables. Diamonds galore. He had never before in his life seen so many damn rocks in one place at one time. What the hell were they thinking keeping all that crap there with no type of security? Then again, it was a brand new building; perhaps they just hadn't finished installing everything. Come to think of it, he was pretty certain it wasn't even open to the public yet.

His fingers glided across the freshly cleaned glass showcases, his eyes ogling at all the priceless rocks. It had been so damn long since he'd done something bad, and his need for criminal activity was eating at him more than usually. He couldn't figure out why though, what made right now so different. It was like he _had_ to do something illegal, and he had to do it now. His devious stare landed upon the object of his villainous hunger, and, stepping up to the lone display, he smiled, Jokerishly. The rather large diamond sat comfortably on the garnet colored pillow for all to gaze upon.

Placing a hand on either side of the glass case, he attempted to lift it, but, as he had thought, it would not budge. Pulling his hands back, he began to study the piece of furniture, trying to figure out how to open it. "Of course!" he said to himself, slapping his forehead as he realized the obvious answer. Reaching back in to his pocket, he pulled out a purple bandana and wrapped his hand in it tightly. With a single chuckle and immense force, he slammed his fist into the shining glass, shattering it into a million pieces. His fingers clamped down onto the enormous rock and picked it up, removing it from its place. "This will do just fine," he breathed, gawking at the jewel's beauty.

Turning back to the door of whence he entered, he began to head back out, but a thought struck him. He might as well get as much as he could while he was here. Returning to the numerous showcases, he commenced to breaking each and every one of them, filling the multiple pockets of his pants until there was no more room. Satisfied with his work, he finally headed out, switching the power back on before he left through the way he had come in on the roof. Making sure the coast was clear, he silently and quickly scurried down the latter on the building's side and stepped out onto the sidewalk.

"Not bad, Jack," he told himself, patting his bulging pockets, "there's just one more stop now," his eyes gazed off in the direction of a certain mansion, a loving smile now replacing the earlier clownish grin. In a hurry to see the one he loved, Jack ran to the Harley Davison he had stolen earlier—trying to ignore the irony in its name—and hopped on, revving the engine loudly before he sped off. Racing through the dark night, his heart ached tremendously in sorrow for leaving her like that. It wasn't like she was injured though, just asleep, but still.

The cool night air gnawed at his white skin as he continued to race through the crowed streets of Gotham, weaving in and out of traffic and around pedestrians. The more and more he thought about it, what had happened back at the alley, the more and more livid he became. He could have taken them so easily, but then…they were frozen…figuratively. How could that have happened? Unless, Penoso was…was a telepath. No, he would have said something about that, no he must just have telekinesis. But the telepathy idea would explain his sudden urge for committing a crime, like Penoso made him want to do that. No, it was telekinesis and that's it.

…Why couldn't he pursue those thoughts? His mind wasn't letting him think too much about, and not just about the telepathy, but Penoso all together. Something or someone was controlling his mind—no they weren't. There it goes again; he could not process any thoughts on any matter concerning that freak—'_I wonder if Plio is okay._' Great, he couldn't even think about thinking about that man…and his head was starting to hurt. But the pain seemed to melt away along with all of those annoying thoughts when he finally arrived at the gates of Wayne Manor. Shutting the bike off, Jack quickly climbed the ten foot iron gates. Sprinting across the luscious green lawn, he headed for the drainpipe of the west wing and scrambled up to the first small balcony of the second story.

Pressing his face against the glass panel doors, he peeked inside and saw the girl he adored so much asleep in a peaceful bliss. A long sigh of relief escaped his lips, for now he knew she was all right. Turning the round knob, he inched the door open and stepped inside, shutting the door back behind him. "I was wondering when you were gonna get here," the sound of her voice shocked him, causing him to stumble a bit, but he was relieved to hear it as well.

"Did I wake you?" he whispered and went directly to her side, kneeling while she sat and shook her head.

"I've been awake." His hand cool hand cupped her warm cheek lovingly, their eyes glued to one another.

"I was so scared you were hurt, P., I'm so very sorry for leaving you there, I had no choice. If I hadn't, I don't know what they would have done. I tried to fight back, but I just was prepared for someone like that. I won't blame you if you don't ever forgive m—" she pressed a finger against his red lips, silencing him and his rambling, her other hand clamping his on her cheek, a smile upon her sweet face.

"I'm not mad, Jack," she told him.

"You're not?" he asked, completely dumbfounded, his guilt instantly turning into astonishment.

"No, why should I be? I'm just mad someone got the better of me, 'cause I could have fought that bitch off."

"Then why the _hell_ didn't you?!"

"Well, I've found that I have a hard time focusing on fighting people when I'm not in costume…and she got the chloroform to my mouth too quickly." Jack said nothing, just stared. "What?"

"You are some kinda retard, that's for damn sure." Plio rolled her eyes, but scooted over and patted the spot beside her, telling him to sit, which he happily did.

"So, who were they?" she asked at last.

"Same people as before, only it was just Penoso and his…um…_girlfriend_ I guess, Lithe. She was the one that attacked you."

"I figured that much, what did they want?" He paused, trying to decide the best way to explain them.

"Nothing, they just wanted to show me around their hideout. They didn't really have much down there."

"It that underground chamber we found, isn't it?" He nodded. "I thought it was." Lying back, Jack pulled Plio down and held her to his chest, with not objection from her. "Is that all?"

"Yeah…so why are you up at three sixteen in the morning? You should be sleeping, we have school tomorrow…er…today."

"I had a nightmare."

"What about?"

"You becoming evil and killing everyone in Gotham including me with a flagpole." The blood in Jack's face drained quickly, and he felt his body go completely numb. He thought back to the nightmare he had had a couple of nights before, he still couldn't remember it perfectly, but he did remember Plio pinned to a wall by a pole. "But it was just a dream. And highly improbable, too." She waited for him to respond, or to say anything to carry on their conversation, but he was far too deep in thought. Propping up a bit, she kissed him softly on his cheek, bring back to earth. "Tell me about this Lithe character."

"She's highly skilled in hand to hand combat like me, and apparently a master with the katana…she's also got a smart mouth and we don't necessarily get along," he told her with his boyish smirk.

"How come?" His smirk grew.

"I keep messing with her and talking in French since her family is of French descent but doesn't know the language." Rolling her eyes in humor, Plio lay back down, snuggling as close as she could get to him, and he snaked his broad arm tightly around her as if never to let her go. "I hope that dream did not frighten you that much."

"It was just a dream." He was silent again, but it was like a silence of guilt. "Jack—"

"Was it? You really believe it was just a dream? Maybe it was a peek into the future."

"That's ridiculous, Jack, we aren't psychic."

"You don't have to be. Ordinary people can have a spontaneous glimpse into the future. It's usually blown off as Déjà Vu, but sometimes it's vivid enough for the person to remember." Taking the hand he had laying on his chest, she held it gently against her lips and kissed it tenderly.

"It was just a dream, Jack. You are not going to become evil. Maybe just a villain, but never will you become evil. And I know this, because evil cannot love and you have _so_ much love in your heart."

"Maybe that love is fighting a monster deep within me, a monster trying its hardest to get out. And if that be the case…"

"Let us hope it does not win," she whispered, finishing his sentence, holding him closer. Jack did not know what was going to happen next, what was going to become of him or her or even the city at that. But what he did know was that things were about to change, and not necessarily for the better. They had shared a dream, the same exact dream in which he mercilessly murdered her, and that had to have meant something. He knew Penoso was behind it, and he would do everything in his power to stop him, but something told him that that would not be enough. Jack had always been able to tell Plio everything, even if it was for her benefit and his detriment, and now he wouldn't even tell her the insignificant things he had seen and been told when with Penoso. There was something wrong with him, and there was only one person he could ask about it and Penoso…and he reeeally did not want to talk to that sorry excuse for a man they told him was his father, The Joker. But he had to, he was lying to Plio, something he never did, and he wanted to hate it, but the truth was, and what scared him, is that he really didn't. In fact, he liked it…

…a lot.

_x__**X**__x_

Okay, there ya go! I hoped you guys enjoyed it. I'm gonna try to have the next chapter up ASAP, but first I've got to go read Breaking Dawn before my beta beats the shit out of me…no I'm serious, she really will. So let me know what you think about the chapter, and if you have any questions, just ask and I will be happy to answer.

L8ER!

Dyno


	11. What's Wrong With Jack?

There was no way that the young man lying beside the sleeping heroine was an evil mastermind

YAY CHAPTER 11!! I'm making up for lost time!! Eleven chapters in thirteen months kinda sucks…well, for me. ANYWAYS, I thank all who reviewed, and I'm thoroughly excited that you really like this story, it means a lot, and I thank those who favorited it. (FYI…"favorited" is not a word) :-)

Okay, for those of you who did not read the lemon in chapter nine, here is the last sentence in the chapter—it's spoken by Penoso and he is speaking go Lithe…after they did it—for your own benefit and hopefully you will see why:

"Shhh, sleep now…and dream _sweet_ dreams," he told her, "for soon it will be time, my dear," his smile made of pure evil, "to introduce…The Night's Misery."

So now you the name of Penoso's gang, and in the next few chapters you'll learn how he came up with that name…I think it's kinda clever. But I'm a little bias.

NOW, on with chapter 11!

**Chapter 11: What's Wrong With Jack?**

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_**X**_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

There was no way that the young man lying beside the sleeping heroine was an evil mastermind. Selina watched quietly through the cracked door as the two slept peacefully. Their love was clear and his concern for her safety apparent. She wanted to be angry, furious, with him, for putting her daughter in harm's way, but she just couldn't. Her daughter and he had gone through so damn much in the past twelve/thirteen years, both good and bad, and she owed him greatly.

However, even after all of that, he was still a villain, and in the end, Plio's heart would be shattered. It was a hard fact to grasp, and Lord knows she didn't want to, but, cliché as it was, she knew it to be true. He was the Joker and Harley Quinn's son, their blood ran through his veins, and his skin bore the marks of the madman himself. One day, he would turn on Plio and those close to him, he would become the person he was meant to be, but that day was not today, nor tomorrow, nor the day after. There was no point in living in the future when the present sat before you, ready and waiting for you to make something of it. Their paths were meant to cross at this point in time and she had to let fate have its way. Besides, she saw how Plio smiled whenever she was around him, it was the same smile Selina had when she was with her husband.

Gently, Selina pushed the bedroom door open, tiptoeing inside and over to her daughter's bed. "Psst," she said, trying to stay quiet, "pssssst, Jack, get the hell up."

"Hmmm…"

"_Jaa-aack…_Get. UP!" she shouted, snatching the pillow from beneath his head, and slamming it down on his face. Immediately he sprung from the bed, leaving the still sleeping Plio behind, and fell to the floor. His eyes anxiously inspected the room to discover what had awoken him. His yellow eyes finally landed upon the grinning Wayne woman. "Really, Jack, for a so-called villain, you scare far too easily," she informed him, her arms crossed and her head shaking slightly,

"This doesn't count!" he shouted quietly. "I was asleep!"

"Just get up," she told him, rolling her eyes. "It's six in the morning, and you need to get home so you can get ready for school." Taking his hand she pulled him to his feet, helping him to steady himself. "Meet me at the car and I'll take you home—"

"No, that's okay," he informed her with a smile as he waved his hand in objection.

"It's a long way on foot; you'll never make it back in time."

"Don't worry, I found this abandoned motorcycle and drove it here." Selina eyed the boy curiously, asking herself if she should believe him, not about having a way home, but finding an 'abandoned' motorcycle.

"I did not know you knew how to fix motorcycles, Jack." Jack, quick on his feet, smiled in an assuring manner.

"Yeah, learned it from a book. Wasn't too hard." Selina cocked an eyebrow in skepticism, her hand placed firmly on her hips.

"Uh-huh…" she finally said, her disbelief apparent, but Jack's truthful expression did not break. "Well then, I guess you better be on your way. Don't want you to be late for your first class." Nodding, he turned on one foot and headed back out the door, but stopped when Selina called out to him. "You're not planning something, Jack, are you?" He was silent for a moment, feeding her suspicions.

"No! Of course not!" he exclaimed, grinning, as he spun back around to face her. "You know, if I was planning something, I'd tell her," he pointed to his sleeping love beside him, "and even if I didn't, you know anything I plan is never that big or really threatening to the city." His grin evolved into something of deception and trickery as they continued to stand in the pink room, staring intensely at one another. "I better get going," Jack declared when the tension in the room began to build, "and don't worry," he called back as he exited onto the balcony, "I won't let anything happen to her…she's my world." And with that, he was gone. The former villain stared out into the night, staying in her spot, her eyes burning with distrust for the boy she once held in high regard. Yet, she still worried for him constantly, and her heart kept telling her he was in some kind of grave danger. However, there was nothing neither she, nor anyone else could do about it.

With a feeling of uselessness eating at her, Selina went to her daughter's side and stroked her multicolored hair adoringly, "Plio, wake up." The teen stirred in her sleep a bit before opening her deep blue eyes and staring somewhat shockingly at her mother. Almost immediately she began to search her bed for the one that had been keeping her company. Selina grinned and patted the girl's head, "Don't worry, Jackendaboks already left…and no your dad does not know he was here…I don't mind." Plio eyeballed her mother in skepticism.

"Really?" she asked, doubtfully.

"I trust you…and I should…_right_?" Plio smiled innocently yet nervously.

"_Wee-eell_—No! No, I'm kidding!" she quickly said as the expression on her mother's face went from loving to murderous.

"Good," she muttered, disapprovingly, "now get up and get ready for school." Sitting up and yawning, Plio watched her mother exit her room and waited a moment before rising from her bed. Sluggishly she moseyed over to her closet and, opening the door, pulled out a long pink towel with a black hibiscus sewn into the center; Jack had given it to her for one of her birthdays. Sighing, she too exited her room and headed down the long hallway towards her own bathroom.

'_Jack…_' she said softly in her mind, '_I wonder if something is wrong. You been acting so damn strange…and you seemed reluctant to tell me what had happened with Penoso, like there was more toc it._' She opened the door and stepped inside, shutting it behind her.'_I hope you aren't going to actually join them…and become some evil person. I don't know what I'd do if we had to become enemies for real._' A large lump formed in her throat as she thought of the idea of them becoming mortal enemies like their fathers. She would rather die than have that happen, for life just would not seem right without him by her side._ 'Oh, Jack, I don't want to lose you._' "DAMNIT!" she shouted at herself, "WOULD YOU STOP WORRYING! Jeez! He's a big damn boy! He can take care of fucking himself! Besides, I've never been one to worry…so just shut the hell up!" And with that, she hopped in the warm, awaiting waters of her shower.

.

'_What was that all about?_' Jack thought to himself as he sped through the already busy streets back to his house. It was as if he had _wanted_ Mrs. Wayne to be suspicious of him. But why? He wasn't up to or planning anything. Maybe he was just tired and didn't know what he was doing…but he did, or at least…he thought he did. No, he didn't, because he wasn't up to anything…but it felt like he was. '_I don't GET IT!_' he barked in his head, '_I haven't even done anything bad in two weeks just about!_' "DAMNIT!" Stepping on the break he continued to race through the city like he had done only hours before, needing to get home so he could preoccupy his mind with something else.

His tires squealed obnoxiously as he took the turn onto the abandoned street that led straight to his so-called house. Peeling into the makeshift driveway, he shut the motor off, put the kickstand in place, and waited. Not but a moment later Harley Quinn came rushing outside in a red robe, her face paint already on. "Where have you been?!" she shouted at him, throwing her arms around her son. "I've been so damn worried about you!"

"Some wannabe villains wanted to show me their hideout. It wasn't worth my time," he told her calmly, keeping his arms at his side, something he never did. Harley, knowing him to be lying, stepped back with her arms outstretched and her hands on his shoulders.

"Some '_wannabe villains_' wouldn't be able to attack you and force you to go with them. Now tell me what happened tonight…_right now_!" She yelled, anger and anxiety clear in her voice. Jack stared furiously at his mother, unable to speak or move out of fear; not of her, but of himself…he wanted to _hit_ her—like his father did—for talking to him like that. He wanted to belittle her for thinking she could treat him like a child. His own mother, someone he vowed _never_ to mistreat or look down upon. What _was _wrong with him? Lowering his head, he took a step back out of her grip and she let her arms drop. "Jacken—"

"I'm sorry, Mom," he said quietly, "I'll tell you about it later. I've got to get ready for school." Leaving the confused and concerned woman behind, he hurried inside and did not stop till he was in their living room. Clutching the back of the recliner, he breathed deeply while an unknown irritation began to build up inside of him. His nails dug deep into the cushion of the chair as he tried to calm down, but found that impossible. Stumbling all over the place as he struggled to subside this random fit of rage, he managed to make it up the stairs to his bedroom.

By the time he was inside, the door shut behind him, the rage was gone, as if it had never happened. In fact, he felt like his old self, not a shred of anger in him, only a feeling of happiness. "What the fuck was that all about?" he asked himself as he strode to his desk. It was the weirdest thing; the rage had come out of nowhere and disappeared just as fast. "Maybe I just need some sleep," he told himself as he stared at his reflection in the mirror standing on his desk. The circles beneath his eyes were thick and heavy, and screaming for sleep. Yawning and pulling off his shirt, Jack picked up one of the small containers around him and began to cover his face, neck, collarbone, and arms with the make-up his mother had made especially for him.

The amount of effort he had to put into getting ready for school almost made it seem not worth it and gave him a higher respect for the girls that had been doing this for years. But they make it look so easy, like the make-up just came with their faces. '_Like Charlie, her make-up always looks perfec—OH CRAP!_' It hit him. How were he and Plio going to explain what had happened, because God knows Charlie and Bre probably told everyone and then some. It's probably turned into some big, huge lie—even though it started out as one—that was absolutely ridiculous yet everyone would believe it. Today was going to be a long day.

The clock read seven thirty; it had taken an hour to get the gunk on even and to make it look natural, which left him with another hour to get to school. That was good, it gave him plenty of time to clear his head and relax before he had to face Plio and the mass of curious students. Quickly getting dressed, grabbing whatever he could find first, he sprayed some body spray to cover up his lack of time for a shower, and, with his book-bag in hand, silently climbed out of his window and was on his way.

Wind blew gently helping him to forget the strange sensation that had just taken place, something he never wanted to experience again, or even think about. But he wondered, if it were to happen again, while he was around Plio, would he be able to contain himself? But he figured it was highly unlikely it would indeed happen again, but still…what if.

He began to think about that dream Plio had had and the one he was having trouble remembering, but he still knew they coincided with one another. If they had been about anything else, he would not have given them a second thought, but, he had murdered her…relentlessly. How could he? _Why_ would he? What if he was on his way of becoming evil like his old man? "Err!…this walk was supposed to calm me down, not rattle my mind again!" He shouted as he stepped onto the grass of Gotham High. Much to his surprise and delight, no one came running up to him, crowding him and asking question…but why? '_Oh no,_' he thought, '_they already got to Plio…_'

"JOHN!" he heard someone call, then his eyes landed upon three girls across the courtyard waving at him. "John! Over here!" Charlie called again, winking at him when he got nearer, and he smiled reluctantly in return. "I can't believe either of you came today!" she exclaimed in surprise, "After what had happened, I figured you guys would have stayed home."

"I hate staying home," Plio said, wrapping her arms around Jack's torso, his own snaking around her shoulders, "I wouldn't be able to see my Ja-John…my _John_."

"Dumbass," he whispered into her hair.

"Shut up," she smiled, and he kissed her lips tenderly, ecstatic to see her up and about. Holding her close he buried his face in the top of her hair, never wishing to let go.

"So did everyone ask you what happened last night?" he asked as he pulled back. Plio shook her head with a cheerful smile upon her bright face.

"Charlie and Bre told everyone there that we had to cancel due to family problems." Jack's eyes shifted to the two girls behind her, who were smiling with satisfaction…Charlie winked at him again. Quickly turning his attention to the brunette, he smiled gave her a nod.

"Thanks, I've been freaking out all morning about what we were going to have to deal with when we got here." She smiled back, though her pleasure questionable.

"Don't worry about it," she told him cheerfully, but, strangely, she would not keep eye contact with him for more than a second or two, "we knew that kind of attention wasn't something you'd want on your second day of school." Charlie began to say something, her eyes glued to Jack, creeping him the hell out, but was luckily cut off when the warning bell rang for them to get to their first class. As the four of them departed into the large school, Jack grabbed Bre by the arm and gently pulled her back a bit, so he could speak to her privately.

"Does…does she…" he pointed at the blonde in front of them, "…have a thing…for me?" he could hardly manage to get the words out and received a chill down his spine when he did. She gave him an apologetic smile.

"Yeah…" he shuttered with revulsion, "but don't worry, she has a thing for any guy she either can't have or thinks is hot."

"…I'm oddly flattered," he said, feeling a little guilty.

"Well, in a way you should be, she's really picky." The two shared a quiet laugh at the expense of the nymphomaniac walking a couple of feet ahead of them. "Though…" she continued, "you do need to be careful, she usually gets what she wants."

"Yeah, but…she's too…_used_ for me. Besides, why would I rendezvous with her when I've got Plio?"

"I know, she just has this way of getting inside of guys' heads."

"…and their pants," he snort and they laughed once more. Waving goodbye, Jack and Plio parted ways with their friends and entered their first class, taking their seats in the back. As soon as he sat down, Jack laid his head atop his arms, sighing.

"You okay, Jack," Plio whispered, rubbing his back.

"Yeah," he replied, his words muffled a bit, "I'm just tired." Yawning, he sat up straight and stretched his arms, twisting in his seat to crack his back as well. "Did you notice Bre avoiding eye contact with me?" he asked, opening his book when Mr. Brown called for the class to begin.

"No. Was she?" He nodded. "Huh…strange," she said to herself, flipping the pages of her own book. "That's not like her. Why would she do that?" Then she went silent. "Do you think she has a 'thing' for you?"

"No-_hell_ no. Not her at least—I-I mean _at all_," he quickly recovered himself. Plio eyeballed him curious as he smiled nervously but, to his delight, did not pursue what she was thinking. With a sigh of relief, Jack continued with the conversation. "Maybe she's not sure what to say around me, like I'm still sensitive about what happened."

"Aren't you though?"

"Nope," he said, hands behind his head, eyes shut, and with the grin Plio knew oh-so-well. Jack waited for a slap on the head or an elbow in the ribs, but when nothing came he opened one eye to meet the death glare from hell. "What?" he asked in amusement.

"You don't care that I got knocked unconscious?" Jack shrugged his shoulders and shut his eyes again.

"Not my fault you're losing your touch. Maybe you should be faster—OW" the back of her hand sunk into his rock-hard stomach, causing him to cry-out and cringe in pain, almost falling out of his chair. With a 'hmph,' Plio turned her attention back to the teacher, her boyfriend trying his hardest to stay quiet as he held his throbbing abdomen with one arm, his head resting on the other.

"Damn, P., your backhand hurts like hell," he moaned, attempting to sit up.

"Bite me, asshole."

"Alright," he said, breathing sharply, "but can we wait 'til Saturday? It'll be a great birthday present? And the next day we could just continue on with our '_fun_,'" her jaw hit the ground as her cheeks grew redder and redder. "I mean, hey, we could even get kinky if we wan—AH" the toe of her sneaker dug into his shin and he fell to the floor.

"Mr. Lichtenstein, what is the matter with you?" Mr. Brown inquired, his voice a mix of concern and annoyance.

"Sorry," Jack waved, still lying on the floor, Plio forcing herself not to look or laugh, though finding it difficult, "I hit my shin hard on the desk," he managed to choke out.

"Well, be more careful than. Do you need to go to the nurse?" Jack shook his head, struggling as he scurried back into his seat. Once he was finally seated, an aggravated Mr. Brown proceeded with his lesson. Inhaling through his teeth, Jack turned to Plio and smiled.

"We still on for Saturday?" she rolled her eyes.

"Pig…"

.

"Did you guys hear about the robbery?" Charlie asked as she took her seat across from Jack and Plio; Bre, whom was seated next to her, immediately glanced at Jack then back to her food. Jack, having seen this, stared on in puzzlement. "Not only did they steal a _crapload_ of diamonds, but they stole this HUGE-ass diamond that had been placed on display. I mean, it was supposed to be frickin _HUGE_! They also said whoever did it was able to disarm this really advanced alarm system they installed, which was supposedly impossible." Jack's eyes suddenly grew wide with remembrance.

"Oh yeah, I _did_ do that…" he said to himself, but…out loud, too. His yellow stare met every one of those around him before he realized what he had said. "NO! No no no! No I didn't mean how that sounded!" the three girls and all others at the table watched on in a deathly silence as Jack began to sweat. "I wasn't talking about the robbery! I was talking about something I did last weekend! I just said it at the wrong time! Sorry. Sorry. SORRY! Sorry…sorry." The silence continued for another moment before Charlie broke it.

"Anyways…" she said, disregarding his comment and thinking him as an idiot, "who do you think it was, Plio?" Plio's eyes were still glued to Jack's face as if she was trying to read something that which was not there. Jack, however, refused to look at her. "Plio?"

"I dunno, Charlie, but I _don't _think it was _Jackendaboks_." Her voice was harsh, but only enough for him to tell.

"What?! Well who in the hell else would it be? There's no body else in this damn city that can pull off a heist like my sexy Jackendaboks." Jack turned his head even further so Charlie could not see eye twitching. Why was she so into him? '_That girl is some kind of freaky._'

"Yeah, well, whenever Jack does something, BD _always_ shows up…it's like he plans it that way. What do you think, _John_?" Jack's body was now turned completely to his right as he stared off into the cafeteria, ignoring the conversation at hand.

"Huh…that jell-o over there looks really good. I think I'm gonna go get some." With haste he rose from his seat and disappeared back into the many lunch lines. Plio watched on in displeasure, rolling her eyes again.

"Why do you like Jackendaboks so damn much?" Plio asked out of the blue as she turned her attention back to her punkish friend. Charlie shrugged, grinning like a school girl at the thought of the infamous crook.

"Why shouldn't I be? He's so fucking _hot_! I mean, have you seen his physique. Holy shit! Not to mention, he's obviously incredibly smart to be able to disarm a system like that. Plus, he's got good taste in jewelry. I bet he knows _just_ how to treat a girl." Plio was blown away. Not even she had ever thought of Jack like that…well, she did, just not in the same exact way. It almost seemed as if Charlie was coming up with some plan to get Jack to be hers. But she shook the thought from her mind; it was far too ridiculous to fret about. She knew Jack did not like her, in fact, he disliked her more than he dislike his own father…Plio could see it in his eyes whenever he talked to Charlie. However, Charlie did have an uncanny ability to get inside people's heads and getting whatever the hell she wanted. "I wanna meet him so damn bad. I wanna touch him, and make out with him. Ooohhh…I bet he's a _damn _good kisser."

"You have no idea…" Plio murmured to herself, a smile pulling at her lips. Bre watched the two older girls as their minds wondered…having heard what Plio had just whispered. For a long time she had had a feeling there was something more to her wealthy friend but she had never had anything to base it on or any reason to pursue it…until now. Silently she toiled with her phone, reading the text message she had received the night before warning her of Plio's condition. Even now she was still having trouble comprehending what it said at the end. It made absolutely no sense what-so-ever. Could there really be more to Plio Wayne or was she unaware of the truth as was everyone else. "Get the jell-o you wanted?" Plio asked when Jack sat back down, causing the brunette to jump and she quickly put the phone away.

"Yeah, the green's my favorite," he said with his goofy smile that made Plio's heart turn to goo. When the bell finally rang for them to head back to class, Plio grabbed Jack's sleeve and pulled him down as he attempted to get up. "You want a repeat of yesterday?" She shook her head, her eyes hinted at her slight hurt. "P.," he said, placing a hand on his cheek, "what's wrong?"

"You robbed that place, didn't you?" He felt the blood rush from his face and his eyes fell. "Why? You knew I couldn't be there. And usually when you do that, it's never really something big like a major jewel heist."

"C'mon," he told her and took her hand, pulling her through the crowded room, into the hallway, and to the closest stairwell. "Okay," he said once they were under the steps, "see, I haven't done anything illegal or villainy in so long, I just had to have some fun."

"So you stole some diamonds." It wasn't a question.

"…Yeah…It just seemed like fun, you know, cause they said no one could get past that security system and I just _had_ to prove them wrong…and I sure as hell did," he finished with a smirk of satisfaction.

"Where are they now?" she asked, her arms crossed and her voice serious.

"What? The diamonds? Back at my house."

"Good, then you can give them back toda—"

"No," he stated flatly, his hand balling into a fist, unbeknown to her. Plio's face was flooded with confusion.

"But you _always_ give the crap you steal back…you know, 'so you have something to—"

"To steal again at some later time. I know. It's a good idea, too, this way I always have something to pilfer whenever I'm bored and I don't get stuck with a bunch of crap." She continued to glare angrily at him, making him smile even more. "Don't worry," he told her, swiftly kissing her pink lips, her facial expression not changing, "I'll take them back, I promise. It's just…this was the biggest heist I've ever gotten away with, and I kinda wanna keep them as a little trophy for a couple of day, okay. Please?" Taking a minute to think it over, Plio finally sighed and nodded her head. "You're the best, P.," he shouted like an idiot, wrapping his arms around the girl and spinning them, kissing her again and again. "C'mon, let's get to class," putting her down he began to head out from their 'hiding spot' when she asked one more question.

"What about the guy?" Jack froze.

"What guy?" he asked in return…already knowing the answer.

"The guy with the motorcycle," she said, matter-of-factly. "He was mugged, beaten up just a little ways from the jewelers, and his bike was stolen." Jack did not turn around, but only slightly turned his head. "They said he was beaten to the verge of death. It's amazing he's even talking."

"I don't mug people, BD, you know that." Plio was taken back a bit. BD? Since when did he call her that out of costume?

"I know, you don't, Jack, but the guy even said it was you—"

"Well he a liar!" he exclaimed, facing her once more. The look of anger plastered on his face sent a chill down Plio's spine—she looked like he was ready to attack her—and the look of fear on hers broke his heart into a million pieces that painfully pierced his insides. "I'm sorry, P.…I…I need some fresh air." He began to leave but Plio rushed to his side and pulled him back.

"You can't go outside; we-we have to get to class…" she reminded him quietly, not actually caring about school at that moment. Gently he removed her hand from his arm and placed it her side.

"It's only last block…and I _really _need some air." Placing a kiss upon her cheek, he silently walked out from the staircase, calling back, "I'll meet you out front after school gets out," then he left her, alone and perplexed, wishing she knew just how to comfort him. Jack hurried through the crowded school hallways, pushing kids out of his way, feeling as if his head was on the verge of exploding. Bursting through the main doors of the Gotham High, the clown prince sprinted across the green grass to the large oak tree he had met Plio had the morning before. Much like then placed a hand on the tree to keep his balance while the other rested on his knee. Deep breaths filled his lungs with the cool October air, relaxing his tensed and shaking body. Twisting so his back was against the cold bark, he slid down to the lightly damp ground and pulled his legs up to his chest. Laying his head on his knees, Jack closed his eyes as the memory of the previous night came flooding back with force. The memory of the first time he acted so out of character, when he acted almost as evil as his old man.

The man was not very big, he did not appear to be very strong, and came across as easily frightened, so taking his bike should not have been so difficult. At least that is what Jack had thought. He had been watching the guy for an hour as he tried to fix the motor of his precious bike; he obviously had little knowledge of how to do so. It was somewhat amusing, watching the man struggle with the motor when it was just a small problem with the ignition, and as much as he would have loved to have stayed to see how long it would have taken the poor man to figure that out, Jack needed to get to Plio…after he made a quick stop. As silent as the breeze, Jack climbed down from the roof top, keeping to the shadows, and, stepping out of the dark alley, approached the man from behind. "Need some help?" the man jerked, surprised by the unexpected voice.

"Oh…Yeah, please," he said as he began to turn around, "I've been at this for hou—" He froze. Staring back at him was the maniac, sinister smile that was Jackendaboks. "Um…Ja-Jack-Jackendaboks…I…um…"

"What?" he asked, his smile growing wider. "You scared?" The man nodded, unable to form a coherent sentence. "Well, you shouldn't be…" he ensured him, holding up a hand, "you know I don't harm people directly." The man still said nothing, only stared, unsure whether or not to be frightened or glad he had some help. "Now, what seems to be the problem?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

"Um…the, um, the engine or gear shift is acting up, but…I'm not very good with this stuff." '_Clearly…_' Jack thought to himself, "I-uh-I got some-um-some tools…" He stepped out of the way as Jack knelt down beside the motorcycle, a plan forming in his head.

"That's great, now just stand back, and let me fix it." Giving the boy some room, but still remaining close, the man watched agitatedly as Jack 'attempted' to fix the bike. "Looks like some bolts came lose, but I think I got it.," he told the man as he rose from the ground. "Give me the keys so I can try it." The man took another step back, never taking his eyes off the clown.

"No, no, that's okay. I thank you for all of your help, but I think I can handle it from here." Jack's irritation began to climb, but he had a feeling this was going to be entertaining.

"Please, I just want to make sure it's running right, just give me the keys," Jack move towards the man as he moved away. "Give me the damn keys." The man shook his head.

"No, now leave me be." He tried to run for his bike but Jack jump in front of him, grabbing him by the throat. "Let me go!" the man shouted, but the clown prince of crime did not comply, he only smiled. Gripping a socket-wrench tightly in his hand, the other slightly choking his hostage, he began to laugh menacingly, filling the man's heart and body with tremendous fear. "I thought…you didn't…harm pe…people…"

"Well, you see," he began, holding the man so their faces were not so far apart, "I'll be eighteen on the thirty-first, and I figured it's about time I followed in dear ol' dad's footsteps…so why not start now," the last bit was said with such insanity it would have sent a shiver down the Joker's spine himself. "Now…" he smiled at the man once more, "lets have so fun." He raised the wrench high and…

"HEY! Whatcha doing?" Jack's head popped, snatching him out of his memories. Looking around he spotted the bookish and spunky brunette striding towards him and he stared at her blankly, still a little out of it. "You okay, Jack?" she asked, squatting down next to him.

"Yeah, I'm fi…" he lost all feeling in his body and his eyes slowly drifted to hers, "What did…you call…me?"

"Jack. That is your name, right?" He felt like he was going to pass out.

"N-nnnooo. That' is not my name…my name is John. John Lichtens—"

"Oh, we both know that is not a real last name…at least not yours," she added as an after thought. "Your name is Napier. Jackendaboks Napier." His blank stare turned to something of sheer fear.

"No it's not."

"Yes it is. And I knew you looked familiar, I mean, that's a pretty damn good disguise, and I probably wouldn't have figured it out if you hadn't confirmed it." He felt his heart leap to his thought making it hard to speak.

"…No I didn't."

"Yes you did," she told him and then dug into her pocket. A moment later she pulled out the small phone and, punching some buttons, held out for him to see. "Take a look." Leaning forward a bit he glanced at the phone's screen…it was his text messaged. "Read the end."

It was at that exact moment Jack realized how big of a dumbass he was, "Oh…shit…" for the message he had texted to Bre, an ordinary citizen and Plio's other best friend, the one who knew nothing of her other life, had been ended with the following:

_Later,_

_Jack_

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_**X**_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

HAHA Jack's a dumbass!! And Bre is so smart…too smart for her own good? Hmm…I dunno…well I do, you don't though. So, Bre knows the clown prince's little secret…what's he gonna do about it? And does she know Plio's? Stay tuned to find out! And I'll try to have the next chapter out next week, the week of Halloween (Jack's birthday!) or the week after. TIL NEXT TIME!

L8ER!

Dyno


	12. A Failed Secret and A Late Night Plan

I STILL DON'T OWN BATMAN! I wish I did though…Anyways, here is chapter twelve, it's a little shorter than I wanted it to be, but I still absolutely love it. So, in the last chapter we learned that Jack had actually done a horrible job at keeping his secret, what kind of an idiot would sign a message with his true identity? But that's why we love him. I just wander what Jack plans to do about it all. Huh…lets find out.

And a special thanks to those who reviewed (animelimit, yer an idiot…) and those who favorited(still not a word) it. You guys rock! THANK YOU!

Oh and for those of you who don't like lemon, I'm gonna tell you, when you get to the alleyway scene, don't worry, it may seem like it's gonna turn into a lemon but it won't, I promise.

Now on with chapter 12!

**Chapter 12: A Failed Secret and A Late Night Plan**

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"I…I'm-I'm not-not…um…I'm not _Jack_," the words stagger through his lips as he was lost in a mix of fear, disappointment, and denial. He to be dreaming this; there was no way in Hell he had blown his cover after only one damn day. Did he really suck that bad? There was just no way, but there it was, the text message he had signed with his name. His _real_ name. Something so insignificant could possibly ruin everything everyone had worked so hard, so diligently to achieve; to send the poor clown to school and give him a chance at a normal life. "I'm not Jack," he said again, this time to himself. How could she have found out? No…scratch that, he knew _how_ she had found out, but how could he been so stupid as to let that happen? Now she was more than likely going to blow his cover, and he couldn't really blame her; he was, after all, the Clown Prince of Crime. "I'm not Jack," he whispered, his voice was barely audible now and his current state was making the studious brunette a little uncomfortable. This really wasn't a big deal, at least not to her.

"Um…are you…having a mental breakdown?" Jack's eyes, which had fallen to grassy ground, rose in haste to meet and stare at hers. His were wide, full of mixed emotions, while the rest of his face was blank. "I can go get someone," she said, pointing to the school behind her with her thumb, "if you need some help—"

"I'm not Jack, damnit!" he shouted at her, the sudden outburst caused to stumble and just about fall. "So stop calling me that."

"Yes," she said with her hands on her hips, "you are."

"No," he argued, also standing up with his fists upon his own hips, "I'm not."

"Yes…you are."

"No…I'm not."

"Yes you are!"

"No I'm NOT!" he bellowed, stopping his foot like a little kid. In one swift move, Bre grabbed the top of his hair and yanked off his wig to reveal his green and black hair.

"YES YOU ARE!" With a yelp, Jack snatched his hair out of her grasp and slapped it back down onto the top of his head, frantically searching their surroundings for on lookers. Luckily there were none.

"THAT WAS MEAN! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DID THAT!" Bre rolled her eyes.

"Get over it…_Jackendaboks_." Scowling, he blew a raspberry at the younger teen and plopped back down on the ground still mumbling about 'not being Jack.' Bre's mouth hung open in complete awe; he was such a big baby. How could a criminal mastermind such as himself be such an immature idiot?

"What are you going to do now?" he asked coldly, his voice was fierce. Bre was taken by surprise, not really certain of what he meant. "Are you going to blackmail me?" he asked, taking notice to her confusion. She crossed her arms in aggravation.

"Do I look like the type that blackmails?" she asked in return, irritated that he thought so. His glare became deadly.

"Then what?" he barked harshly, "You gonna tell everyone who I am? Get me kicked out school, and make me become the laughing stalk of the city?" Bre rolled her eyes and, dropping her book-bag beside her, took a seat in front of the mentally unstable criminal. With her arms and legs crossed, she stared back, the same glare plastered on her generally sweet, caring face. The two sat like that, one in front of the other, their eyes locked, waiting for one to say something, then Bre finally broke the awkward silence.

"First off, you already are the laughing stalk of the city…though not in the sense you're talking about. And secondly, do you really think, I would blow your cover, reveal your true identity, and sully the name of Plio?" Jack's face fell, having not thought of that. "If I were to tell everyone that you are really Jackendaboks, then everyone will know that Plio was dating you. Even if she 'didn't,'" she used her fingers to make the quotation symbols, "know who you were, that would not matter, people would still see her has a criminal accomplice, or just an awfully bad person…and possible a whore." Jack's rage suddenly burned and tore at his chest, his fury glowing in his eyes. How _dare_ anyone think so little of her, someone as kind and loving as Plio. He'd kill anyone who would bring disgrace to her name…but what if it was himself. Bre watched awkwardly as his emotions changed from anger to concern to shame then back to anger. This guy had some serious issues. "You, uh, you can calm down, Jack, I'm…I'm not going to tell anyone." He looked at her once more, his face softening, but he still eyed her curiously. "She is my friend," she reminded him with a sigh, "I would never do anything to hurt her…at least not on purpose," she smile in attempt to cheer him up, and Jack took a deep breath, letting his anger subside.

"You really think people would say that stuff about her?" Bre nodded, her eyes showing a bit of sorrow.

"She _is_ the daughter of Bruce and Selina Wayne, Gotham's richest and finest people. The tabloids and news people would love to get their hands on some dirt about her. Luckily she's done absolutely nothing to bring attention to herself. Though, she did come close with the whole Andrew thing," Jack's fingers clinched tightly into a fist, just the sound of that bastard's name made the clown's blood boil. Bre's lowered her head in apology, "…and I'm sorry for that again."

"It wasn't your fault," he told her, looking away, "people can be deceiving." They were silent again, neither really knowing exactly what to say. This sweet and innocent girl had now been put into a dangerous situation that he didn't even want Plio in, because of him. For all he knew, that meager excuse of man and his despicable woman could have been watching them at that very moment. He did not wish to put anyone else in harm's way, especially someone like Bre. At least Plio could take care of herself. "Look," he told her, placing a hand on her shoulder, "you can't act like my friend outside of school, or when we're not in a large crowd. If you do, your life could be in danger," her eyes widened in alarm. "There are people watching me, trying to get me to be the villain they think I should be." He thought for a brief moment, "Actually, being my friend is bad regardless. I'm not a good person."

"Are they the ones who attacked you and Plio?" She asked, ignoring his last comment Jack nodded.

"They actually came to get me for a…_meeting_, and just knocked her out to get her out of the way." Bre gasped in horror, her hand clamping over her mouth. "Yeah, I know. But I've got to go along with them for her own safety.

"But I thought Plio could protect herself, I mean she beats up bad guys for a living." Jack's jaw hit the ground. "What?" Out of nowhere he jumped to his feet, his finger in her face.

"You're a little psychic freak, aren't you?!" he shouted, scaring the shit out her. "How in the _hell_ do you KNOW this stuff?! I thought she did a brilliant job at hiding herself! And don't say she told you 'cause I know for a fact she didn't!" She gawked at him, speechless. "WELL?!"

"I…uh…I," she stuttered, trying to think of an explanation, "I'm just good…at…um…figuring stuff like that out. I mean, they do look a lot of like, her and BD." Jack dropped his arm to his side but continued to gaze at her in astonishment. "I mean, they have the same color eyes, same skin tone, and same bone structure."

"Bone structure? You noticed their bone structures?" he asked, slightly impressed…and somewhat creeped out.

"_Hers_," she corrected him with a prideful smile. "Now tell me I'm right. Plio Wayne is, in fact, really B—" in one swift move Jack was standing behind her while his hand had found its way over her mouth, the other clamping down on her fragile arm, cutting her off in midsentence. His unexpected action had her frozen in fear.

"Are you insane?!" he snapped in her ear, his breath sending a chill down her spine. "You can't just come right out and say that!" his voice was quiet yet loud and frightening in its own way. "Anyone could be watching a listening. And even if you don't see anyone in earshot range, doesn't mean they can't read lips. You understand?" She nodded, still frozen. Slowly he removed his hand and its grip from her face, and inched his way back in front of her. "Now that you know this stuff, you have to be _extremely_ careful, and I cannot stress that enough. There are people who would kill to get that sort of information. _Be careful._ You were…_are_, one of the few people I can call my friend, and don't want anything to happen to you. Especially since you've got nothing to do with what's going on. But these people will have no mercy on you." She nodded once more, somewhat in a trance. "Now, where's Plio? I thought I heard the bell ring a while back."

"She's…she's gonna stay after to help one of her teachers," Bre told him quietly, the awkwardness getting to her.

"Alright, then lets go." Her head, which had lowered so she was staring at her shoes, snapped up in complete surprise.

"What?"

"I said, let's go."

"But…but you said we shouldn't be seen together," she reminded him as she took a step back.

"Yeah, but I'd rather walk you to your mom's work than you go by yourself…actually, on second thought," he said, gazing around the courtyard, "is there any way you could stay after with Plio?" Jack's body tensed in defense, clearly ready for a surprise visit or an attack.

"Yes, I guess I could do that."

"Good. Then get inside…quickly would preferable." Not wanting to get herself into any unnecessary danger, Bre turned instantly and headed back to the school, but stopped after a few steps.

"Was it you, Jack, that attacked that man?" Jack was silent, his guilt and denial consuming his entire body. Bre glanced back, seeing his face contorted into some kind of pain. "Jack?"

"I don't know, Bre," he finally said. "I honestly don't know. But," his guilt abruptly transformed into a ferocious fury, "I intend to find the _fuck _out." Giving no reply other than a very nervous smile, Bre hurried to the building and disappeared behind its door. How life had gotten so difficult in such a sort period of time he would never understand. One day he the bad guy and BD was the good guy, he caused trouble and she fixed it, and…well…now he didn't know what he was: good, bad, or evil. Things were just getting to confusing. And that guy, the one with the motorcycle…he could have attacked him, Jack didn't do that sort of stuff, at least not unless he was provoked. So it couldn't have been him who attacked the poor man…but then why did he remember doing so? "Errr…DAMNIT!" he shouted to himself, grabbing his head, but he quickly recovered when he realized there were other students surrounding him. Snatching his book-bag off the ground, he, angry and irritated, stormed through the courtyard and down the sidewalk, with the feeling of being watched intensifying.

Reaching into his pocket, Jack pulled out his cell phone and quickly punched in Plio's number. "Yeah—"

"P., is Bre inside with you yet?" he asked, sounding a bit out of breath and in a rush.

"Um…no, why would she be?"

"I need you to keep an eye in her for now. Don't let her out of your sight." A strange feeling of fear began to creep its way through the young superhero's body.

"Why?" she questioned, not really wanting to know the answer.

"She…uh…she knows…"

"Knows what?" she pressed on, even though the little voice in the back of her head was already telling her the answer.

"Myentire name."

"Your what?"

"My _entire _name. You know, like how there's more than just Lichtenstein." Plio just about dropped the phone; how could she have figured it out. Stumbling, she reached for a chair and sluggishly and, in a daze, sat down. This was unbelievable, how was she going to explain everything to Bre or should she just act like she, herself, had no idea? Oh, what to do. "Um…P.…there's no need to freak, okay, well, maybe there is, she knows about you too. But she's known about you for a long while." Her arm, along with the phone, dropped to her side in frightful astonishment. "P.!" Jack called, but he went unheard. Plio's eyes rose when the classroom door opened as Bre stepped inside. Instantly their eyes met and, by the horrified look that had consumed her best friend's face, Bre knew her own secret was known to whom it was about.

"Uh, hey, Plio…" she said, trying her hardest to sound cheery, "um…boy do I have something to tell you," she scratched the back of her head, nervously, adverting her eyes, "…I guess."

"P.!" Jack shouted for the umpteenth time, but to no avail. Slamming the phone shut, he shoved it back into his pocket and continued on his way. Turning the corner onto a usually unoccupied stretched of road and pulled off his long-sleeved shirt, revealing the black t-shirt with the dragon beneath it. Stopping behind a trash dumpster, Jack dug through the book-bag until he found the stupid make-up remover and took off the annoying yet necessary concealer with alacrity. Then, tearing off his shoes and pants—glad he had remember the shorts covering his boxers—and dragged out his purple and black pants, pulling them on quickly. "Damn, I gotta find a better place to change…maybe a phone booth…"

"Yes, you most certainly do," came the most devious voice in the city of Gotham. "The again, I didn't really mind the view." Lithe jumped down from the roof behind him, her body but a couple of inches from his back. "I like your butt," she whispered into his ear, he felt her smirk in her breath, "it's kinda cute." Jack spun around in a flash, grabbing her throat and slammed her harshly into the wall behind her, pulling her katana out at some point and now held it at the nape of her neck. "What the fu—"

"Why do you keep following me?!" he asked her unsympathetically, pushing further into the sharp brick. Lithe smiled that irritating demented smirk that made his skin crawl. "You're absolutely insane, aren't you?"

"You have to be to do the things we do." She managed to say in a raspy voice as her windpipe was being crushed.

"Why are you following me, Lithe?" he asked again.

"Jeez, you act like I've been doing it for a while, it's just been a day. And Penoso just wants to know as much about you as possible. You can only learn so much from newspapers and whatnot." Jack's grip grew tighter.

"Then why don't you just ask?" Lithe—clinching his arm—rolled her eyes at the apparent obvious answered question.

"Would you really have just told us? Besides, this is much more fun." The clown eyed her curiously and a little bewildered.

"What's more fu—UH!" Like she had done the night before, Lithe dug her heeled boot deep into the teen's gut and pushed as hard as she could, sending him flying backwards into the cold, hard metal of the dumpster. Taking a step forward, not saying a word to the moaning kid before her, Lithe bent down and retrieved her katana he had dropped. Holding it so that the blade was pointing up towards the sky, she examined it's magnificence and made sure it was still in absolute perfect condition before slicing it through the air and pointing it in Jack's face.

"You should never, EVER touch my blade, _Jack,_" she warned him with, "…I've killed for less…" she stopped for a moment in deep thought, "Actually, I'm more up for torture rather than killing. But not that horrific torturing, you know where you take off people's extremities one by one, but more like taunting. That's fun."

"You're a sick human being," Jack told her as he tried to get up, rubbing the back of his head, but she pushed him back down, sticking a needle into his shoulder. "AH!" he cried out as he entire body became numb. "What the fuck, you bitch?!"

"It's just a very weak tranquilizer, it'll just make you limp for about ten minutes, and then you'll be back to your old annoying, stupid-ass, fucking self. Now shut the hell up and just listen to me. Damn." Placing her katana back into her sheath, Lithe crouched down and took a seat next to an exceedingly pissed off, and scowling Jack, whom was trying to keep his calm. "Penoso…would like for you to…_meet_ his crew."

"I did yesterday. Did you forget, or are you just that fucking stupid?" Furious, Lithe grabbed a handful of his green and black hear, and yanked his head toward her.

"I'd really watch my mouth if I were you, Jackendaboks, you're not exactly able to fight back at this very moment, and I have absolutely no problem killing you."

"You wouldn't dare," he grinned, mocking her, "considering who my mother and father are, and what they would do to you. Not to mention, what your 'beloved' Penoso would do." The glare Lithe's face bore would make even the evilest of beings' skin crawl, but it only amused the maniacal clown prince. "You're nothing but a dog and a sex toy," she yanked his head harder, bring her face to his.

"When you finally break your alliance with us, I will truly enjoy torturing you."

"What makes you think I'll break it off?"

"Because you're a loner, you hate working with others." Jack smiled, feeding her insane like temper.

"Then I'll make sure Penoso and I stay exceptionally good friends just to piss you the hell off."

"You'd better prey you don't," she finished and let go of his hair. "Now, what I was _trying_ to say was that Penoso would like you to see his men in action. He wants the Night's Misery to assist you in a bank robbery or something to that affect."

"The Night's Misery? Really? Sounds like some kind of reject rock band. Where the hell'd you get the name?"

"Think _reeeally_ hard, what does his name, Penoso Soffrire, translate to in English?"

"Um…" he closed his eyes, pretending to think, as his fingers began to, very slowly, inch they way to her over coat. "They mean, 'pain' and 'suffering'…oh wait, I get it. 'Cause the two of them equal misery for a person. That's cute…and clever."

"Yes, now, tonight we will have our men meet you at Gotham's main bank, and—"

"Not tonight, I'm too tired; I haven't gotten any sleep in forever."

"Fine. Then tomorrow night, at two a.m. and you will see just how in handy we come." With a pat on his head, Lithe began to rise from her seat beside him, but she did not get too far before something sharp was jabbed into her thigh. The fiery redhead cried out in pain as the needle sunk deep beneath her skin and her limbs were suddenly paralyzed. Falling back to the ground, she watched as the clown prince rose instead, standing, towering, over her. In his left hand sat one of the syringes she had used on him, the ones filled with her very own tranquilizer.

"There's something you obviously failed to find out about me, Lithe." He knelt down in front of her, his eyes moving from hers to the syringe—of which he was fiddling with—then back to her. "You see," he began, holding the needle up so she could see it, "I've always had this unique…_immunity_ to suppressants. Nothing you come up with can stop me. Not even an elephant tranq." With a smile, he tossed the thing at her, hitting her in the chest, and stood to leave. However, she wanted the last word.

"I like that little brown haired girl you were talking to." Jack froze, his fury reigniting. "She seems like quite the interesting person. I couldn't quite make out what you two were talking about, but judging by your reaction I think it must have been important. Wait," she said with a gasp of over done sarcasm, "could it be that she knows who you really are? And if so," she continued, "then perhaps she has figured out who that whore of pest with the ridiculous name, BD, really is." A laugh of unadulterated malevolence rippled through her body, and she spoke as if she were out of breath "I haven't preformed a good torture in soooo…_daaaamn_…long. Maybe I can squeeze some information out of her pretty little self. What do you s—" Jack's foot was pressed hard against her throat, cutting off her sentence and air. Lithe gasped and choked unable to defend herself—her body being temporarily paralyzed—while Jack watched in amusement.

"If you _ever_ touch that girl, I will not think twice before I kill you. She does not have _anything_ to do with me or you, and she is to stay OUT of it. Do you understand?" She gave no indication of understanding, but she did sneer, smirking as if her current predicament was humorous.

"Your threat means nothing," she croaked out, "since it's coming from a person that would do what they did to that poor man in the alley." Jack's foot dropped, slowly, and he backed way, but kept his eyes on hers. "It's truly…is amazing…he is…awake," she said between pants. "If…I was…him…I would…pray for…it to end…He's…in so…much pain." She began laugh once more, only this time, it had nothing to do with humor, only insanity, "Oh, such pain, such wonderful pain. You truly are one of us, Prince Jackendaboks, a low evil person." He charged her, his hand grabbing a fistful of her top, and yanked her forward.

"Don't you EVER say that again! I am NOTHING like you."

"Keep telling yourself that." Snarling, Jack pushed her back against the wall and walked away, picking up his bag and pulling out his trench coat and gloves. "I'll see you tomorrow night!" she called out.

"Hell no you won't!" he called back. She smiled.

"Sure we won't." Suddenly something sharp was jabbed into her collarbone, but a gloved hand clamped down over her mouth, preventing her from screaming. When the needle was removed the hand followed, as did Lithe's gaze. "Penoso," she breathed, "my love." The cloaked man held out his hand and—the feeling slowly coming back—she reached out and took it. He pulled her up too him, holding her close, keeping her still jell-o like legs from buckling and causing her to fall. Leaving one arm around her waist, he used his free hand to brush the hair from her face, and he kissed her softly, almost lovingly. "So I guess I did a good job?" she asked, her eyes closed.

"You did a magnificent job, my darling, but…" her eyes snapped opened, "next, I would greatly appreciate it if you did not over do it." Lithe's brief happiness instantly switched to her infamous fury, and she shoved him back, almost falling herself.

"You fucking asshole, I didn't over do a DAMN thing!" Penoso grabbed her by her face, holding her jaw firmly in his gasp.

"Don't you ever talk to me like that." He growled, and she rolled her eyes.

"Shut up." Holding his face between her own hands she crushed her lips against his, their tongues continuing their bitter and passionate feud. Pushing her back onto the wall, his body pressed against her as hard as it could, his pelvis grinding into Lithe's making her moan as she felt the outcome his excitement. Penoso's hands roughly made their way down her body to her hips and around her buttocks which he groped and squeeze before lifting her up allowing her to wrap her legs around his waist. Using the wall to hold her up, he quickly got to work undoing her top, ripping the annoying clothing out of the way, exposing the bosom he lusted so desperately for. Gently he kissed the valley between her breasts as she breathed deeply, giggling gleefully when he proceeded to undress her…oh how she_ loved_ when they had a fight.

Jack stormed down the sidewalk, lifting his hood over his head, not really sure where he was headed. He knew she was right, about him coming; he knew he was too, but that didn't mean he wanted to…okay he did, but not for the reasons she was thinking, though. It just sounded like fun, and he'd get to fight Plio like he used to. He kind of missed that, all the bloody noses and black eyes. The whole gender factor never came into play, they just wailed on one another. It was somewhat twisted, sure, but it worked for them.

Making his way down the side of one the main streets, Jack came across the exceptionally busy Gotham General. He knew if that guy was at any hospital in the city, he'd be at that one. Jack's stomach churned, his need to vomit growing with every second that went by has he stood there staring—almost in a trance—at the enormous building. The memory from the night before and his mugging came flooding back again. He had these memories, but…he knew they just couldn't have been real, he just didn't do that sort of stuff. Rubbing his forehead, he thought long and hard trying to figure out exactly what had caused him to react in the way he had. Normally he wouldn't even have engaged in conversation with some random person, let alone helped them. So why had he? And then to go and attack them? What hell was up with him? Jack's stomach began to ache more and more until he couldn't walk. Stopping and using the side of a building as support, Jack took a deep breath and his mind began to wander until it came upon the frightened face of the man with the bike.

"Now…" he smiled at the man once more, "let's have some fun." He raised the wrench high and brought it hurtling down onto the elder's face, causing the man to cry out in pain. Jack let go of his captive, letting him drop to the ground. "You know, I think this could be fun," he told the man, and then kicked him in his side. "Well, for me that is…definitely not for you…" he kicked him again and received a shrill of pain, "unless you're some sadistic bastard…" his foot crashed down onto the victim's ribcage, several cracks were heard, "but I doubt that."

"Pleeease…" the man begged, "stop…don't do this," Jack rolled his eyes impatiently, "you don't do this—AH!" the clown's foot slammed down onto the opposite ribcage, cutting the man off.

"Seriously, dude, enough with that shit. It's getting old." Squatting down next to the guy's face, Jack sighed and smiled. "And don't be mad at me, you were the one that pissed me off. But don't worry," he began as he arose, strolling into the blackness of the alley, "you won't die," he emerged from the dark, a Louisville Slugger in hand, "where's the fun in that." A tear fell from the awaiting victim's non-swollen eye.

_CRASH_

Somebody was following him; that was the third trashcan they had managed to trip over in the last 5 minutes. They did an even worst job at it than Penoso himself. Oh how he hated when people followed him, especially if they didn't know how. Keeping calm, Jack made a turn, and hid just inside a pathway. Crouching down, he listened and waited, their footprints drew closer and closer. When he was sure the perpetrator was just around the corner, Jack jumped out, ready to attack. But what he found, was not what he had expected…nor _wanted_, and his eyes said it clearly, '_Oh, fucking shit…not her…ANYBODY but her._' "Um…hey," Charlie smiled, waving playfully, "you're really hot."

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Okay, so there ya go, chapter 12. I really hoped you liked it. Penoso and Lithe are completely insane and she's beyond that. I wonder if that bank robbery will go as planned…hmmmm. And why is Charlie stalking Jack…not 'John' but Jack? Okay so we know 'why' but still, why? That girl is crazy obsessive…and a nympho(that would be the why). Oooo I can't wait to find out what's gonna happen next! Stay tuned to find out!!!

Luv ya!

Dyno


	13. Crazy Psycho Bitch

ORIGINAL SHIT FOR CHAP 13 (((((((((Okay, so I still don't own Batman, but I own this story and all six of my characters.

Anyways, I tried to get this chapter out sooner, but my sister had her baby (his name's Jackson, how awesome is that) and I've been helping her…now she owes me, BWAHAHAHAHA!

ANYWHO! This is just a random chapter to introduce you to Charlie's strange affection to our boy Jack and just how psychotic that girl can get.

And I'd like to give thanks to all that reviewed my last chapter and favorited my story. Y'all are absolutely awesome! LOVE YOU ALL!)))))))) END ORIGINAL SHIT FOR CHAP 13

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I AM SO SORRY! THIS CHAPTER WAS SOOOO FULL OF MISTAKES…I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY AFTER THAT. My normal beta has taken on a lot of crap and was pretty tired when she did this. So I'm not too mad a her, but I might just get a new beta so she does not have to worry about it. Her name, the new one, is AnimeLimit!

She's reading this and is all like "yaaaay." In a retarded kind of way. HAHA. Anyways, I've reposted this and it is much MUCH better, and a little bit funnier...like when Jack gets a fork stuck in his nose...hehe. So, now go and read it…again…cuz it's new…and I said so. AAAHHHHH. Sorry, just felt like screaming…_whispers,_ "sugar rush."

And I left all the crap at the end. So you don't have to read that. You know, what I say after the story. I know, I'm an idiot. I have chapter 14 done, but it's gotta be beta-ed, so it'll either be updated today or tomorrow. YAY!

Okay, and now on with chapter 13!

**Chapter 13: Crazy Psycho Bitch**

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Of _all_ the fucking people in the whole DAMN city Gotham, why the _hell_ did he have to be the object of HER obsession? Life just wasn't fair. "Um…who the _fuck _are you? And why the hell are you following me?" he asked and, crossing his arms, attempted to act as tough and as intimidating as possible…which, sadly, is what she liked.

"Oh…sorry, I'm Charlie. Charlie Esurio."

"Okay…Charlie," he said, taking a step back and she took one forward, "What do you want with me? Not a lot…or really no one would be following me just for the hell of it. Especially if they were not a hero or a fellow villain."

"Well," she said, taking another step towards him, and he moved back, "I just _had_ to meet you, Jackendaboks." He eyed her curiously, stunned and amazed; how could she have known who he was at then but had no idea who he was—while he was wearing the _exact_ same thing as he was at this given time—only a couple of weeks earlier? Was she really that damn stupid? It was like he was completely surrounded by idiots, with the exception of Mrs. Wayne, Plio, and Bre, and Charlie appeared to be the stupidest. Well, no, his mother was stupider, but she could have her moments of brilliancy. Like when she had almost killed the Batman all by herself…then she was pushed out of a window by her 'husband.' Okay, so the moments of brilliancy were rare but still… "Um…Jackendaboks?" Charlie waved her hand in his face to bring the clown out of his deep day dream, which was causing him to make odd facial expressions. "You there? Helloooo?"

"Huh…wha?" Jack shook his head, snapping himself back to reality, the reality that included the promiscuous Charlie and her new affection for him. "Oh…sorry, um, so why the_ fuck _would you want to meet _me_? I'm the Clown Prince of Crime. I'm not exactly someone you want to get to know."

"On the contrary," she said, her voice velvet and seductive and her eyes growing wide with immense excitement, "your _exactly_ the type of person I want to know." He was backed up against the wall behind him as Charlie continued to move closer until they stood nose to nose. Jack did his best to keep his calm, though…he _really_ hated being cornered. "You are soooo _damn_ hot. And so fucking _sexy_," she complimented, placing her hands atop his abs hidden behind his shirt. Completely in shock, Jack did nothing to stop her and her strange actions, only stared, watched in awe…and enjoyment. Slowly and sensuously her hands began to glide their way up his torso taking her time to feel each and every crevasse created by each muscle. Closing his eyes, he smiled ear to ear, Plio liked to do the same thing…only, she didn't come across as 'experienced' as this chick. Charlie, taking his smile as a sign of enjoyment, continued with her fun. "You know," she said, "I've always wanted to know something."

"What's that?" he moaned in bogus pleasure, toying with her own excitement. Charlie moved one of her hands from Jack's chest to bottom of his cheek, holding his face, while her lusting lips hovered over his unusual red ones. Knowing what she was going to attempt to do, Jack kept his cool and his eyes shut, playing along…he didn't really have anything else to do.

"What _exactly_," she began with extreme emphasis, "a villain, such as yourself," her mouth inching closer and closer while the hand on his chest, inched lower and lower, "is like…in bed." Charlie's free hand slipped into the flabbergasted clown teen's pants as she pressed her lips to his. Okay, so this was _not_ what he had expected…well, half of it was. She begged for his welcome but Jack kept his mouth shut tightly, his body frozen in his dumbfounded state. When she was denied her access, she dug her hand deeper. His mind, which had been temporarily lost in confusion, came screaming back to reality at the feeling her fingers curling around that of which belonged to that of another.

"AH!" he yelped at the abrupt invasion of privacy. "WHOA! WHOA! OKAY! WOW!" Quickly and frantically Jack yanked her overly curious hand out of his pants and pushed her back, never letting go of her wrist. "No!" he shouted at her, his finger in her face, "No! Bad! No! You don't do that! No!" She stared at him blankly, then hurtfully when Jack threw her arm to her side and took a step back. "…Crazy psycho bitch!" he barked at her, before trying to storm away.

"But I can _your_ crazy psycho bitch!" she suggested, rushing to step in front of him, keeping him from his desired departure. Taking hold of her shoulders, he forcefully moved her out of his way.

"I don't WANT you has my _crazy psycho bitch_! My dad has a crazy psycho bitch and I DON'T…WANT…**ONE**! Have…I…made…myself…_clear_?" he asked slowly and she pouted.

"No…" she told him defiantly. With a growl of exasperation—throwing his hands up in the air—Jack shoved her out of the way, into the wall, and continued down the sidewalk. Unwilling to give up on the one person she so lustfully desired, Charlie picked herself up and ran after him. "Do you already have someone?" he did not answer and she gasped, covering her mouth. "Who?! Is she prettier than me?!" she asked in a frantic state of mind, pointing at herself.

"My dear," he told her, his words placing a smile on her face, "everyone is." Her face dropped as her feet stopped. Smiling himself thinking he had finally gotten rid of her, Jack continued on with a feeling of relief…though, it did not last. Charlie ran back up to her 'beloved,' wrapping her arm around his, and laid her head upon his shoulder. '_What the hell?_'

"Oh I know you're just saying that to keep me from getting a big head. That's how I know you care." Snaking her other arm around the one she was already clinging to, she held on as tight as possible. Jack came to an immediate halt, causing the blonde to stumble as she had tried to keep walking. "What's wrong?" she asked, her voice full of concern which irritated him to no end. Yanking himself out of her grip, Jack grabbed the nuisance of a girl and pulled her off the sidewalk and around the corner. "What are we do--OW! Hey?!" he slammed her against the wall as hard as he could without the risk of serious damage. "What the fu—"

"I swear to God," he warned her, his teeth gritted, "if you do NOT leave me ALONE, I will _kill_ you," His eyes were sharp, fierce, and his finger was back in her face. She pouted.

"I thought you loved me," Jack's jaw dropped in absolute bewilderment, this girl was completely insane, well, he had known she was a wild nymphomaniac, but he'd never seen her like this…then again, he'd had only actually 'seen' her in person only a few times. Hell, to be honest, he really didn't know how she acted outside of school. But that didn't matter, the girl was disturbed and she needed to back the hell up off of him.

"Bitch, I don't even know you! Shit! I just fucking met you like two seconds ago!" he yelled at her, pushing her back before letting go. But she grabbed fistfuls of his trench coat and pulled him back.

"But you could…" she said, holding him close, "…get to know me." He pushed her back again. "Kiss me," she demanded.

"WHAT?!

"Kiss me," she said again as he tried to pry her hands off of him. He looked at her with an eyebrow raised.

"What? Under the milky twilight?"

"What?" she asked.

"What?" he questioned.

"Nevermind," she said, shaking her head, then getting back to her point, "C'mon, it was love at first sight you know it…" still he struggled to get her off…so, with a smile that would disturb event he devil himself, she compromised. "Kiss me and I'll leave you alone." He stopped. Was she serious? Kiss her and she'd leave him alone…it sounded fair…then again so did murder. No, he couldn't, not even if it was to get her to go the hell away, what about Plio? It wouldn't be considered cheating, he knew that, not exactly at least, but would she understand. Shit, she'd probably laugh at him and think it was funny. "Deal?" Should he? He really didn't want to do anything that would upset Plio, and possibly catching something from this chick would be a good way of doing so. Oh well…

"You'll leave me alone?" she nodded. Jack took a deep, deep breath, and sighed. "Fine." She clapped her hands—she was still clutching onto his coat—with a squeal then closed her eyes. Holding the back of her hair, he leaned her head back and lowered his own.

"Make it count," she whispered. With a roll of the eyes, Jack took her mouth with his, immediately she granted him access. Reluctantly he did as she asked and 'made it count;' Jack deepened the kiss, sliding his unwilling tongue into her warm, moist mouth. She fought with him, playing, and exploring his not so experienced mouth. She was good, _really _good, he'd have to give her that, for he had to really try hard not to show any enjoyment. At the realization that he wasn't exactly hating it, he broke their current 'connection' and stepped back. "Ohh, is it over?"

"Yes. Yes it is. Now leave me the hell alone."

"I will, I gave my word," she told him, poking him in the chest. Jack sighed in relief, "For now," the relief was gone. Growling in extreme aggravation he stormed a few feet then stormed back.

"I-ug-we-you-me-kill-shit-hate-ah-shh-UGH!" it was not a coherent sentence but it did seem to make his point: she was _really_ pissing him off. "Look, I know for some unbelievable reason, you have some…some…uh…" he struggled to find the right word, "…_need_ for me, but I promise, if you are caught anywhere near me, enough that someone could say we were associated…I'll make you suffer beyond anything you could ever imagine."

"Okay, okay," she said, holding up her hands in defense. "But can't we just have one date?"

"No! Now leave me alone!" This time when he stomped off, he did not return. Charlie fell back against the wall, her hand upon her own chest, and breathed deeply. She knew there was no other man in the entire world like that one, his aggressive manor and perfect body excited her unlike anything or anyone ever had before. One way or another, she knew, she would have him. She would be his.

'_Seriously,_' Jack thought to himself as he hurried down the sidewalks of the city, '_what the FUCK is wrong with people today? And I can't believe I did that._' The guilt of his action began to eat away at this heart but he shook it off, '_I can't think about that right now, I've got more important things to worry about. I've got to warn Plio about tomorrow night._' He stopped walking. '_No. I'm not gonna tell her,_' he smiled.'_Where would be the fun in that?_' His smile disintegrated as he grabbed his head, crouching down a bit, '_NO!_' his mind shouted, '_What the hell am I thinking?! Of Course I have to tell her, she could get seriously injured if she's not prepared for that many bad guys at once!_' his eyes opened and his hands slowly dropped as he straightened himself, '_...then again, she's got to learn to always be ready. Besides, I wouldn't actually ever let anything really bad happen to her._' His eyes followed the streets and buildings before him as they led his gaze to the enormous, old house atop the hill away from everyone else. Jack stood there for what seemed like an eternity trying to decide what to do, what was right or what was wrong. "I have to tell her," he chose, "I have to protect her,"

_CRASH_

"ERR! SERIOUSLY! LEAVE ME ALONE!" Charlie ducked behind a large sign as the angry clown spun around. "DAMNIT!"

…

"So how did you find out?" Bre lowered her head, fiddling with a pencil she was holding. The sun shined brightly through the window of which the two teen sat at, showing the mixture of emotiono their faces bore. Plio had always been able to tell Bre about everything—well just about everything—but now things were different. It was just so awkward knowing Bre had known all along Plio had been lying. All this time, whenever Plio had told a lie about her constant disappearances, or a story about her absents from school, Bre knew the truth. Yet she never once said a single thing about any of it to anyone. Plio gawked at her best friend in complete and utter shock. "Did I let it slip?" she asked, her voice a whisper. Bre shook her head.

"I'm just good at noticing things," she told her, barely audible.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, about four years ago I had started to notice some inconsistencies with your stories and it got me suspicious." Bre saw the blood drain from the young Wayne's face. "No, don't worry," she quickly said, waving her hands, "most people wouldn't have EVER picked up on them, I promise. I'm just weird like that." Plio relaxed and Bre exhaled, "After I picked up on the inconsistencies, I compared some pictures of you and BD. They were a match; the bone structure, the skin and eye color, and the posture, everything fit."

"…my bone structure?"

"…yes," she confirmed. Plio did nothing but blink. She knew Bre was clever, but she never would have expected her to figure out who she was. Then again, Bre did have an IQ of 162—not nearly has high as Jack's, though no one's was—which was something like a genius, so she actually was as surprised as much as she had initially thought she was.

"How did you figure out about Jack?" The brunette perked up a bit, she did find this very humorous.

"Well, it was actually his fault."

"Figured."

"Ever since he first started here at Gotham High I was suspicious of him, from the very first moment, like I knew something wasn't right…I think it was the last name." Plio's head dropped and her hand raised.

"My fault." Bre smiled in amusement.

"Really? You came up with that?" Plio nodded while attempting not to burst into a fit of laughter, oh how he _hated_ that name. "Huh…well, that was the first thing that got me wondering, so I looked it up…Turns out there are…_a lot_ of people with that last name."

"ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?!" the heiress shouted in bewilderment. "Like, define 'a lot.' You mean like 'a shit load?'"

"Yeah, yeah I mean like a shit load…well no, it's more like a cubic butt-ton." Her laughter could no longer be contained, laughing the words 'cubic butt-ton.' "So, anyways," Bre continued after her friend was finally able to calm herself, "that threw me off, but did not stop my curiosity. I listened carefully to the way he talked about 'Jackendaboks' and his family, he made it seem like he knew them personally. Then there was the whole fact that he looked _just_ like Jackendaboks, only…well…normal."

"Yeah, my mom and his spent a week making him look like that."

"Really? So, your whole family knew about him being here? And they didn't care? I mean, he is the son of their enemy." Plio's jaw fell to the floor.

"You know about my parents too?! Damn, you…are…_good_." Bre smiled with great pride.

"They weren't that hard to figure out," she paused for a brief moment, "…surprisingly, that did not contribute to me figuring out who you really were…Huh…I'm like an idiot… Anyways, getting back to Jack…Besides everything I just told you, besides the fact he acts like the clown he really is, what finally confirmed my accusations was last night after you were attacked, he sent me a text messaged—"

"Nooo, no he didn't. Please tell me, Bre, he didn't do what I think you're gonna say he did." Her grin grew wider.

"He signed with Jack."

"Oh my Gawd! Fucking retard! I mean, really? He signed his name?"

"Yeah well, in his defense, it was a pretty intense moment." Plio shrugged in agreement. It was kind of nice, she thought, having someone other than your enemy know about your secret. Though, it did put her in a serious risk of terrible danger. However, her unusual, yet unique ability for observation could very well come in handy. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Although, she doubted Jack would go along with the whole 'letting Bre help' idea, he didn't like to put people in danger if he didn't have to, especially if they're younger. "Um, Plio, can I ask you a question?"

"Hm? What?" she asked, coming out of her thoughts.

"I know that you and 'John' are going 'out' but in reality are you and Jackendaboks going out?" Grinning like a fool, Plio placed a hand on her friend's shoulder.

"First of all, don't call him Jackendaboks, he hates it with a fiery passion, and secondly, yes, we are definitely dating."

"Really? Why? How?" Plio took a deep breath, wondering how she was going to explain their relationship so that someone else could ever understand.

"He was my best friend, my first friend," she began. "Our fathers were, are, and forever will be mortal enemies, our mothers were friends…and enemies I guess you could say, so we were stuck somewhere in-between." The thought of their childhood and the trouble they would cause by complete accident had her smile reaching from ear to ear. They were such bad kids. "He was never like his dad…nor his mom for that matter. Jack does indeed have a deep desire to cause chaos and mayhem unlike anything this city has ever seen but…he…unlike his father and mother, has a conscious, and it will not allow him to harm anyone or anything that cannot defend themselves, like women and children. He's a good person destined to be bad but lately…" she did not finish her sentence, and diverted her stare to beyond the window. In twenty-four hours he had only changed somewhat, but still, something in her heart told her, this was only the beginning and it was going to get worse.

"Um…I feel the need to warn you Plio," Bre said, getting the sense she should change the subject a bit, "that Charlie has seem to take a liking to Jack."

"I know," she replied, waving her hand, "I'm not worried about her. She wants to get with every guy she can't have…scratch that, she wants to get with every guy regardless."

"Yeah but…" Plio's eyes, her head staying in place, shifted to glance at the younger brunette curiously, "she always gets them…no matter what."

"I know, but I'm still not worried. Jack hates her. In fact, I'm pretty sure he despises her in every way possible."

"You've never seen the way she works. I honestly don't blame the guys that cheat on their loved ones with her. She has this uncanny knack for getting into peoples heads and getting what she wants. Whether it's material or sexual. She's like Lust if it was a person and no man can resist. It's truly very disturbing. I would have stopped being friends with her a long time ago, but to be honest…she scares the hell out of me."

"Well, you've got nothing to worry about, Bre. I know Jack better than anyone in this world, and he's very strong willed. He can resist her." Bre nodded in agreement, she felt so silly thinking someone as smart and strong as Jack would fall for Charlie's charms and whatnot. The thought of the promiscuous blonde attempting to get him but then getting shot down was pretty hilarious and she wished she could been there to see it. "Huh?" her pocket buzzed vigorously and she reached into it, pulling out the small phone. "Hello?"

"Oh. My. GOD! Guess what happened," Charlie's voice was far more cheery than usually.

"Um…what?" Bre asked, a feeling in the pit of her stomach making her nervous.

"Guess who just made out with me…and of his own free will." Bre smirked, '_What? Like she usually rape guys?_' The brunette's smile quickly faded and her breathing became shallow and unsteady as her mind reverted back to the topic at hand. Plio, quickly taking notice to her friend's strange behavior mouthed 'Are you are okay.' She swallowed.

"Who?"

"Jackendaboks." This was one of those moments were the timing is just perfect and you're like 'Speak of the Devil and the Devil shall appear,' and sure enough he appeared and brought fucking presents. It was like someone had taken something sharp and jagged and stabbed her in the gut. There was just no way she was telling the truth. Jack would never, there had to be a logical explanation. Holding up a finger, she told Plio she would be right back and quickly stepped into the hallway.

"Now, what are you talking about?"

"Me and Jackendaboks. He kissed me…a lot."

"You mean like a cubic butt-ton, or are just exaggerating like you're known for?"

"No, Bre! I'm not fucking exaggerating!...and what the fuck is a cubic butt-ton? No, Nevermind, I don't want to know. But he really kissed me! And you know what else?" She sighed with reluctance in asking.

"What, Charlie?"

"I think he's gonna ask me to be his girlfriend." The blood in Bre's face was gone, drained to her feet. She was lying. She had to be.

"You, uh, you think that's safe?" Charlie laughed hysterically.

"Why the hell wouldn't it be? I mean, there aren't really any other villains in this city, so I don't really have to worry about being attacked by any of his enemies."

"What about BD?" Bre promptly asked, hoping that would put some fear into Charlie. BD was well known to "kick serious ass."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Her plan failed. "If that girl is too stupid to pick an actual name for herself other than Bat's Daughter, I'm not too worried. I'm pretty sure I can take her." There was a long moment of awkward silence as Bre tried to think so some way to respond to that. She could not believe what was coming out of her friend's mouth. She had always known Charlie was not entirely right in the head, but she'd completely lost it now. It was almost as if she was planning to become a…

"Charlie, you do realize you're sounding like a villainess, right? You're not thinking about turning into a criminal, are you?" Again, the blonde laughed.

"No, of course not. That would be stupid." A wave of relief washed over the younger teen; "If I'm in jail how am I going to attend to my baby, Jackendaboks?" the relief was gone. "And if he needs me to do something, whether it be illegal or not, I'm going to do it. But I'm not going to classify myself as a criminal."

"Well, it's really not up to you Charlie; it's kinda up to the Gotham City police department."

"Ha, they can go screw themselves. He wouldn't let them lay a finger on me, let alone arrest me."

"You're insane, Charlie, you don't even know if he has feelings for you."

"Yes I do, he loves me. I mean, why else would he have brought me to his house?" Numbness and shock took over her body as she, to her thankfulness, stood there in the hall alone.

"YOU'RE WHERE?!"

.

Jack's fork picked and played with the food on his plate; he really didn't have much of an appetite. Maybe he was just over reacting, everyone has a bad day, that was usual, and everyone gets mad…yet, he'd never got mad like he had today. He'd never wanted to get violent with someone over something so little: he wanted to strike his mother for asking where he had been, he had wanted to punch Plio in her face for questioning him about that guy in the hospital, and he had gotten too rough with Charlie. Okay, yeah, sure, Charlie was acting fairly psychotic towards him, but she was still just a girl, and a lot weaker than he was. He had no right to throw her around the way he did. Not to mention he was so wrong for kissing her. But he had too! She wouldn't leave him alone! And the girl had stuck her hand down his pants! If anything that right there gave him the right for a little roughness…no, hurting someone who can't help themselves is just not right…and he was quite sure the girl can't help herself. Oh, Plio was going to be so upset. No, no she wouldn't, she'd understand, she'd laugh, but it would cause trouble between her and Charlie which would put Bre right in the middle.

'_Bre…_' thanks to him she was now in danger. Lithe knows, or thinks she knows, that there is some kind of connection between them. It would be better if he stayed away from her, but he or Plio needed to keep and eye on her as well. More than likely that bitch would probably try to have a confrontation with Bre, possible a bloody one…if Bre doesn't tell her what she wants. In just three days, things have gotten so confusing and haywire. He wiggled the fork between his fingers in deep thought, not paying attention to what he was doing. "Ow," he shrieked as the prongs of the fork got caught in his nostril. Pissed off, he threw his fork aside and plopped his head down onto the hard wooden table with a '_thud_,' moaning in agony and aggravation.

"Sweetie, what's wrong?" Harley asked her apparently distraught son, stroking the top of his head lovingly. "Has something got you upset?" Jack sighed, but did not lift his head.

"Shit, mom…just shit," he mumble, his face against the table. "I've been acting so fucked up lately and I don't know why. And it all started after I met that fucktard, Penoso." Harley's hand stopped, as her body went numb. "Say, Mom, have you ever heard of the Night's Misery?" In a flash she snatched her hand back, eyes wide with fear, and turned her head away from him. "Mom?" Sitting up, Jack watched his mother with concern as she clutched the top of her shirt while staring intently at the wall beside her. "You know them, don't you?" he asked, though the answer was obvious. She nodded. "Heh…so do I."

"No," she said sharply, looking back at her son, her voice so fierce Jack just about fell out of his chair. She then turned back to the wall, "I didn't think they'd come back," she whispered, more to herself than to Jack. "I was sure they wouldn't show their faces here again."

"Mom?" he said again. "They've come here before?"

"They…they originated in Gotham City."

"Well, what happened the last time they were here?" She still would not face him.

"Hell on Earth," she simply replied. "They wanted to help Mr. J take over the city and eventually the world. Your father and I knew they were crazy, more so than us, but we thought 'Hey, it'll be fun,' but we were wrong. Their leader—I'll never forget his name—Penoso Soffrire, got too power hungry and…" he waited, anxiously, but she did not continue.

"But what mom?" She hastily arose from her seat shaking her head.

"I don't want to talk about it. You'll have to ask your dad."

"But I don't want talk to hi—"

"Hey, who's that on out front?" Harley interrupted, pointing to something outside of the window. Jack, curious, got up and went straight to his mother's side. His yellow eyes scanned the surroundings in their 'front yard' and there she was…Charlie. His face got even whiter.

"Oh…uh my God."

"Jack who is that—Okay…" Jack took off out of the kitchen, through the living room—jumping over the couch and recliner—down the hallway, and up the stairs, in about one step, straight to his bedroom. His back pressed against the door, he slid down the cold metal to the floor and pulled out his cell. '_How the hell did she find me? I thought I had lost her!_' he thought frantically as he dialed the numbers on the phone.

"Hello—"

"BRE!" he shouted

"AH! What?!"

"Sorry!"

"Why are you yelling?!"

" 'CAUSE I HAVE A CRAZY PSYCHO BITCH STALKING ME!"

"Oh," she said as if it were nothing.

"What do you me '_Oh_,'" he barked. "This is a big deal!"

"Well, is it Charlie?" Jack's jaw hung wide as he nodded in bewilderment.

"Yeah…" he said with a whimper of absolute distress, "how'd you know?"

"I was on the phone with her earlier…like a few hours ago, and she said you led her there."

"What?! I've been trying to get the hell rid of her!"

"Yeah, well, she also said you love her and you made out with her. Is that true?" All was silent. "Jack?" Still he said nothing. "Oh my gosh, Jack no, no, tell me you didn't." Again, nothing. "Oh, God, why, Jack?"

"I HAD NO CHOICE!" He blurted out, startling his newly found friend. "SHE WOULDN'T LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"So you kissed her?!"

"YE—Wait, is Plio there?"

"No."

"THEN YES! She was all like 'I love you and you love me,' and I was all like 'Bitch I don't even know you,' and she was all like, 'You can,' and I was like 'Go away,' and she was like 'I loooove villains, they're hot,' and I was like 'I don't want you,' and she was all like 'You know you want me,' and stuck her hand down my pants and kissed me—"

"Wait she wha—"

"Let me finish!" Bre was silent. "So I was like 'No, you don't do that, no,' and she was all like 'Kiss me and make it count,' and I was like 'Okay fine you crazy psycho bitch,' so I kissed her and made it count and she was like, 'Okay, I'll leave you alone, _for now_,' and I was all like 'Ah, I hate you,' and I tried to ditch her and apparently she followed all the way back to my house! WHAT AM I GOING TO DO BRE?!" Jack breathed heavily and rapidly, breathing very little during his story.

"Just calm down, take a deep breath." He did as told…and held it. "Now let it out, you retard!" He exhaled and gasped for air.

"You see! She got me so upset I can't even think straight! I even tried being terrifyingly mean to her earlier and it just turned her on! What do I do?"

"Just tell her to go away."

"I TRIED! IT. DON'T. WORK!"

"Then give her something. Didn't you steal some diamonds? Just give her one or two. She's a greedy person so that should work."

"Yeah, okay, let me go try that."

"Okay, call me back if that doesn't work."

" 'Kay, bye!" he hung up the phone before Bre could say anything more and sprung up from the floor. Sprinting to his desk, he pulled open a drawer and grabbed a hand full of diamonds—it was full of the priceless rocks—and ran back out of his room. Dashing through his house, he tore open the front door and took off toward the deranged nymphomaniac. Charlie stepped out and in front of the tree she had been behind with a smile, but fell back against it when she saw the look of incredible anger that was plastered on the enraged clown's face. "HERE!" he shouted yanking her hand out roughly and dumped the diamonds into her palm. "Now leave me the FUCK alone!" With that he tossed her off the side with more force than necessary, hoping she'd get the idea, and turned to go back inside.

"Wait!" He stopped, just about ready to beat her to a bloody pulp.

"WHAT?!"

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. Jack's tensed body relaxed with confusion. "I know I shouldn't have followed you, it was wrong of me, but I just love you so much!"

"I told you I don't want you!"

"But I'll do anything for you! Anything you ask me to do, whatever it is!"

"I swear," he screamed, spinning around, "if you do not leave right now…wait," he stopped, thinking hard about the offer she had just made. If she was really willing to do anything he asked, she could really come in handy. '_Now I'm starting to understand why my dad kept mom around._' "Alright," he said, stepping up to her sweetly, "you say you'll do anything for me?" She nodded.

"Yes, anything you ask me to do." He placed a finger beneath her chin, tilting her face up toward his.

"What if it is criminal?"

"I don't care." His Jokerish smile pulled at the corners of his mouth.

"Even if it's…robbing a bank?"

"Just give me the name," she said with a sneer. Moving his hand so that it was holding the side of her face, he wrapped his other arm tightly around her waist, pulling her close.

"Charlie, my dear, I think this could be the start of a very interesting relationship." His face inched closer to hers, as did hers to his, and in the back of his head, in the deep dark abyss of his mind, screamed the hysterical voice of Jack, telling his body to stop, telling it that this was wrong, that Plio was the only person he wanted to hold in his arms and kiss. He screamed and screamed, but went unheard against the maniacal laughter of the psychopath, Jackendaboks, and with a smile of deceitfulness, the Clown Prince of Crime took the lips of the obsessed blonde like he had earlier. Only this time…he wanted to.

_x__**X**__x_

(((((((((((OMG! I can't believe he did that…well okay, I can, but my beta can't and she and I are like the same person only not…so there. Hehe. Anyways, so does Jack really intend on making Charlie his other girlfriend or is he just planning on using her for the robbery. I don't know. Okay I do, but that's not the point. And just how bad are things going to get? Are their dreams going to come true? Will Lithe get to Bre? Will Plio find out about Jack and Charlie? Will the Joker ever make another appearance? I DON'T KNOW…or do I? Stay tuned to find out!

Luv ya!

Dyno))))))))))))

SEE! I left in the original end crap that I usually write…err…type. Hehe…gotta go!


	14. Explanations And A New Assignment

GAWD! I NEVER THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO GET THIS DAMN CHAPTER DONE! JEEZ IT TOOK FREAKING FOREVER! FOUR WEEKS!...mainly 'cause I spent the week of thanksgiving reading Breaking Dawn 'cause I didn't do it when I was supposed to, BUT THAT'S NOT THE POINT! I think I might hate this chapter…okay, no I don't.

Now, this chapter may seem a little random, I was gonna have a lot more stuff in it, like the bank robbery, but it started to get waaaay too long, so I had to cut it short…er…it's still kinda long and I apologize to those like me who don't like long chapters. But when you get to the part when Jack leaves his English class, you could pretend it's like the end of the chapter, go do something, come back and be like "Oh, she posted another chapter."

…yes I know I'm a little nuts.

ANYWAYS, I really hope you guys like this chapter, and let me know if you do, I appreciate it!

IMPORTANT! MUST READ!: I REPOSTED CHAPTER THIRTEEN BECAUSE IT HAD SO MANY MISTAKES, SO IF YOU DID NOT GO BACK AND RE-READ, I SUGGEST YOU DO! IT'S EVEN FUNNIER THAN BEFORE! IT'S STILL THE SAME CHAPTER, I JUST ADDED IN SOME FUNNY PARTS, LIKE JACK GETTING A FORK STUCK IN HIS NOSE. SO GO AND CHECK IT OUT!

Now on with chapter 14!

**Chapter 14: Explanations And A New Assignment**

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To say lunchtime was a little awkward would be to say the least, possibly an understatement. Though, it wasn't uncomfortable for everyone, while the others at the table conversed themselves with conversations and stories—who had done what and what had been done to who—Jackendaboks Napier picked at his food mindlessly, lost in deep thought. He struggled to remember the previous night, although he could recall what he had done, he could not think of why he done it. No, he knew _why_—he was going to use that blonde tool for the robbery tonight—but he didn't understand the reason behind his actions. Why her? He couldn't stand her. Not to mention he kissed her twice…the first being forced into it, but the second…

How could he have done that? He tried to tell himself that it was just to make Charlie trust him, but he knew there was something more to it, it wasn't love or anything like that, hell no, but it was something. Unconsciously he reached over and wrapped an arm around Plio's shoulders, who was in a deep conversation with the psycho in question, and kissed the top of her head. "I love you," he whispered, guilt tearing at his aching heart. She smiled up at him and kissed his lips softly.

"I love you, too." Her smile was like something from Heaven, whenever he saw it, he felt like everything was going to be okay, no matter what was happening. Which was considerably funny in the sense that he liked for things to be in chaos. After he gave her a quick kiss back, she returned to the conversation at hand, leaving Jack to his thoughts once more. Maybe he was overreacting; yes, that was it, he was just overreacting. Hell, it wouldn't be the first time:

_**FASHBACK**_

"I SAID DECAF, YOU JACKASS!"

_**END FLASHBACK**_

Yeah, overreacting, that was all…but to what? Everything or just what he had done last night? '_I mean, it's not like I've been doing a shit load of horrible shit, but still._' He had broken into that jewelry shop—which wasn't necessarily bad, it was just he did it when he knew BD wouldn't be able to show up…which he never did—told like eighty million lies in forty-eight hours, to people whom he was always honest to, and attacked someone for no reason.

The rest of his memory of that…_incident_, as he referred to it, had come to him in his dreams. He had broken both the poor man's arms and legs, all in three different places, with a Louisville Slugger. The memory was horrifyingly disturbing, something he wished he could quickly forget, but it was there to stay for who knew how long. When it had come to him the night before, it hit him so hard it had awoken him, the picture in his head causing him to throw up.

All night he had been sitting up in his bed, tears streaming down his face, as he tried to tell himself that it wasn't true. Someone had implanted the memories into his head, they weren't his, he hadn't done it…but they were his and he really had done those horrific things. Right? No, he couldn't have. Not him. He never did anything sadistic or insane before, hell, not even his father did that…well, he did sadistic things—enough that it would take days to list them all. Some he didn't really want to think about—but he never once attacked someone and beat them to a bloody pulp, literally.

This all started happening after that stupid bastard came to town, and he new it was him…but every time he thought that, or anything bad about him for that matter, his mind would tell him he was wrong. It was like it was impossible to think ill of that man, like there was a block in his head, keeping his thoughts at bay. However, he could say all he wanted about that whore of a French shit…even though she wasn't really French. No, he was just over thinking again. Maybe it wasn't as bad as he remembered; perhaps his dreams were exaggerating everything. Maybe he needed to stop being such a little bitch and suck it up.

"Aaahhhh!" Jack's sudden outburst of exasperation had the others at the table jumping and gasping in shock and surprise. His head fell to the table as his arms covered the back of it. Oh, why did things have to be so damn complicated?

"Um, J-John, are you okay, baby?" Plio gently placed a hand upon the teen's back, to which he jumped in reaction, as did the rest of them, again.

"What? Oh, sorry, I…I just…remember that I…forgot to get…some stuff…for my dad last night…and he's gonna be pissed when I get home…sorry." Though a little suspicious of his explanation and wary smile of assurance—with the exception of two who knew the truth—the table's crowded occupants went back to their random and unimportant conversations…excluding one. Charlie sat directly across from the clown in disguise, her eyes burning a hole in his skull. Jack's gaze moved from person to person, trying to avoid the psycho in front of him. Her stare was agonizingly annoying, and his patience was wearing. "What is it?!" he barked, but just loud enough for Bre and Plio to hear. The two turned their heads to look.

"You look like Jackendaboks." Jack was sure every ounce of his blood had just been drained onto the floor. "I mean, you really look like him." Bre gawked at the table top, her eyes seemingly about to pop from their sockets, as Plio gaped at her petrified best friend. She wasn't even sure if he was breathing.

"_Breathe…_" she whispered to him, smiling so that her blonde acquaintance would not think her assumption was more right than she had thought. Jack sucked in a sharp breath, and smiled as well.

"I don't look anything like him," his smile did little to hide his growing irritation and his desire to kill her.

"Yeah you do, I mean, you've got the same hair style and facial features. The only difference is he has yellow eyes." The three of them gazed in absolute and impeccable astonishment at the crazed nympho. Was she really that stupid or just playing the part? In all the years Plio had known the rambunctious blonde, she had always come across as relatively intelligent. It was only recently—like the past couple of weeks, since she had met Jack, unbeknownst to her, the day of her dreadful date—that she had started to act so…odd.

"He also has absolutely no pigment in his skin, what-so-ever, Charlie, and green hair." Charlie rolled her eyes and waved Plio's comment off as if it hadn't mattered.

"Whatever, I meant it as a compliment. Jackendaboks is _smokin'_ hot!" The awkwardness that had been filling the air for the last twenty-two minutes intensified as the same memory struck both Bre and Jack simultaneously. If that stupid wretch was to bring up what happened, they were going to share in the bloody murder that would follow soon after. Although, from the look of irritation and fury on Plio's face, they may not have to worry about it. The girl—someone that jealously never had an affect on—looked as if she had reached her limit of patience. "I'd do _anything_ to have my way with him." Jack could feel some vomit creeping up his esophagus and his hand fastened over his lover's clenched fist.

"Yeah, it's just too bad he keeps himself unavailable," the young Wayne sneered, attempting to piss off her so called friend. Her smile of victory and satisfaction had the clown prince beaming with pride and Bre giggling.

"On the contrary…" the beaming and giggling stopped on a dime, both teens freezing in fear of what was going to come out of her overly experienced mouth, "…he's already made out with me…_twice_." It was as if their bodies were frozen in time, their trepidation overtaking them and their wide eyes locked. Slowly their gazes advanced to the heiress beside the young villain, bracing themselves for when she lunged at the blonde, though they knew she wouldn't. They waited, but nothing happened; a mere couple of seconds passed by but it seemed like an eternity. A single chuckle, that was all that was heard from the super hero in disguise, then a smile, followed by a full blown laughing fit. Charlie's arms crossed tightly across her chest as she pouted at her friend's disbelief of her claim while the others sat in bewildered silence. "I'm telling the truth!" She shrieked, slamming her hands down onto table.

"Seriously, Charlie, I don't see Jack making out with some random person." Jack was unsure of what to do, to stay quiet or to say something. Did she really find the current situation that hilarious or was she silently plotting the brutal, bloody, painful murder of the clown. "Jack's always been a loner, and he's not one to care for another, and he's a major jerk." '_Okay, that one hurt a little_,' he thought as he took a sip from his milk carton.

"Really? Well, I'm no random person…I'm his _girlfriend._" Chocolate milk was strewn all across the tabletop and the blonde as it was shot and sprayed out of the flabbergasted clown's mouth and nose. The students around them burst into laughter as Plio patted her boyfriend's back while he coughed and choked. Charlie—who had jumped from her seat in utter disgust and was now wiping the liquid from her shirt—glared deadly at the obstructed teen before her, shooting equally deadly glances at the giggling brunette. "You stupid asshole! What the FUCK is wrong with you?!"

"Did you…just say…_girlfriend_?" he managed to cough out.

"Yeah…what of it?" Plio's eyes locked onto Charlie's face with a fierce determination to know what the hell this crazy bitch was talking about. Had she really lost her mind? Did she really think she was Jack's girlfriend? Her eyes shifted to the still gasping clown prince; had he really kissed her? Why else would she think that? Then again, when someone strongly desires something or someone, like they really lusts for it, perhaps it could drive that person delusional. Or maybe, Jack did kiss her and told her she was his girlfriend as part of an elaborate plan. It would be just like him, he always did have a joy for overdoing things a tad.

…Yeah, this was definitely an elaborate plan. But she wasn't going to press him about it, he was keeping it a secret from her for a reason. Besides, he'd been doing crap like this for years. Why should she worry now? A pair of glowing green eyes appeared in the back of her mind…a feeling of panic crept up her spine. "He…made…you his girlfriend?" he asked, managing to straighten himself, wiping his face off, careful not to rub off the make-up—though his mother made sure that to be near impossible.

"Yes," she barked, her tolerance gone.

"And you think he won't mind you going around talking about that?" Her face fell. "I may not be from Gotham, but I have studied its inhabitants, including your boy Jack. And I've found he's a _very_ private person. One that would get_ immensely_ furious if another was to _exploit_ his privacy." It was as if the cafeteria had faded away, all the noise, all the people, everyone, except for those four. Jack's words flat, emotionless, yet his voice was cold, like frostbite eating away at Charlie's skin. He was right, absolutely right, Jack would be so mad at her. But she wanted everyone to know he was hers and she was his. Was that so bad? Silently she sat back down, her head lowered in shame, while Jack watched with a sadistic grin. Oh, she was going to get it later, that was a promise.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, catching everybody off guard, she had to make it right, "I know I must be coming off as a bit crazy. Please forgive me. I…I stopped taking my medicine—,"

"ARE YOU INSANE?! WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU DO THAT?!" the girls said in total unison. "Do you know how _dangerous_ that is, Charlie? You could have put yourself at real risk, not to mention others, too." Plio was standing now, using her arms for support so that she could lean forward over the table. "How long?" she asked. Charlie did not answer. "How. Long?" A moment of silence past before the harebrained blonde sighed.

"Just a few days," she whispered a bit quieter, "since Saturday."

"_Chaaarlie,_" Plio's tone was pleading, caring, and anxious as she bent down, using her elbows to hold her up, so that she could look her disturbed friend in her lowered eyes, "I'm not trying to be your mother, Charlie, but you know you really need to take your meds."

"I don't want to."

"Well you kinda need to."

"Why don't you just shut-the hell-up, Bre!"

"Why don't you go to candy mountain and put a banana in your ear, Chaaaarlieeeeee." Charlie began to say something but Plio cut her off.

"She's right though," she paused for a second, "…about the meds, that is. You need to take them. You remember what happened the last time you were off of them for too long? The whole thing with the baby elephant?"

"Yes, but I feel like I'm being restrained when I'm on them," she explained with a sense of distress. "And the baby elephant fine," she mumbled. "Besides, I feel like everyone thinks I'm insane if I have to take meds." Bre snorted.

"That's 'cause you are."

"DAMNIT, BRE, DON'T MAKE ME GO CRAZY PSYCHO BITCH ON YOUR ANNOYING ASS! SHUT THE HELL UP!" in an act of fury she threw her empty carton at the younger girl, but she easily dodged it. "If I go back on it, will you too leave me alone?" the girls nodded delightfully. "Fine," she said with a pout, "I'll take them." Squealing, her friends locked arms around the blonde obnoxiously, as she, oblivious to the others, smiled with pride as her plan to divert their attention from her and Jack was a success. Besides, she'd stopped taking her medicine months before.

Huh…so the girl was on meds. Well it did made perfect sense, considering all the shit she's pulled. Although, after all that had happened yesterday—along with her daily nonsense talking and ridiculous actions—how could he have not thought she was on something?...or needed to be. He wondered what was wrong with her, but to be honest, he didn't really care. The stupid bitch almost blew his cover with her moronic rambling and need to brag. Then again, that was pretty slick how she had gotten them to forget the subject at hand. If she had been talking to anyone else her plan would have worked, unfortunately for her—and him—these two knew his secret.

Now he had to come up with some intricate lie that could explain what he hell_ that_ had been all about. On second thought, Plio hadn't really seemed to have believed her, so perhaps he had nothing to worry about. '_I guess the word of a psycho has little meaning._' Well, even if her little outburst would not cause him trouble, she was still going to pay for it. But he couldn't think about that now, he still had yet to warn Plio of the robbery tonight. But did he want to? Yes, absolutely, she could get hurt…but did he care? '_Err! OF COURSE I DO! WHAT THE FUCK IS THE MATTER WITH ME?!_' he inhaled a deep, calming breath through his nose and exhaled through is mouth. '_Okay, so I'll tell her after school. That will give her plenty of time to get prepared._' Yes, he planned to tell her sometime after school…though he knew he wouldn't. Sighing, he rose from his seat a split second before the bell rang and dumped his tray. "Jack, is something wrong?" Plio asked, walking up beside him. He smiled.

"Do you know what it's like to have a crazy psycho lunatic be obsessed with you?" She smiled in return, shaking her head.

"No, but do you know that sentence was completely redundant?"

"No, it wasn't," he argued, holding the door open for her.

"Yes it was, all of those words have the same basic meaning."

"So…"

"_So_…it was redundant."

"Nope, 'cause I used THREE words, which makes it NOT redundant. Two negatives may make a positive, but three negatives make another negative. THEREFORE, it was not redundant…it was repetitive…dumbass." He waited for some lame attempt at a cunning comeback as he walked, smirking, looking straight ahead. Plio, staring up at him, while still maneuvering through the crowed hallways, and, sneering, took a hold of his ear in a death grip. "OW! WHAT THE HELL?!" he yelped as his head was yanked downward by the ear at an awkward angle. She said nothing, only smiled, pulling him along. "Why are you always so mean to me, P.?" Jack cried, acting like a baby and trying his hardest to embarrass her. Still she did not respond, and drug him into their last class. Jerking him forward, she playfully kicked the small of his back, pushing him toward his seat.

"Maybe you'll learn now to watch what you say to me," her laugh sent a feeling of warmth through his body, like a happiness that would never cease to exist. "That smart mouth of yours is gonna get you into trouble."

"Oh yeah?" he asked, stepping up to her.

"Yeah." She took a step as well, both grinning profusely.

"Well, maybe I'll learn to _dumb _it down a little so I won't offend you."

"This coming from the guy that got his ass stuck in a toilet." He gasped and jumped back, pointing a finger at her.

"YOU SWORE YOU'D NEVER SPEAK OF THAT!" he howled in a whisper, flapping his hands as a sign for her to shut the hell up. "I WAS ONLY SIX!"

"YOU WERE FIFTEEN!" She shouted back, but his hand clamped down over her mouth.

"SHUT UP! I just can't believe you'd bring that up! You're not supposed to!"

"Oh, I'll bring it up, _baby_, believe me," she chuckled a bit insanely, ripping his hand from her face. "I'll frickin bring it up in front of _everyone_…_if_ you keep talking smack."

"You're just pissed 'cause you can't say smack back." She took another step, now in his face.

"I can bring you down," she said, still beaming, "and you can believe _that_, too." Jack's smirk reached from ear to ear as his head lowered.

"Why you do me this way, baby?" they laughed once before their lips silenced one another. It was weird; not the kiss, but the feeling that was spreading its way through his entire being. It was like a force trying to pull him away, away from the kiss, away from her, away from this life. He tried to ignore it, push it to the back of his mind, but it kept finding its way back. His body rippled with an unfamiliar rage, like it was mad…at him. He found he wanted to push her back and tell her she was a pathetic, worthless piece of shit, and that her defeat by his hands was inevitable. That she would rue the day she ever met him. But he didn't know why? Why would anybody say something like that to the one they love more than their own self?

"There will be absolutely NO PDA in THIS class!" came the roaring voice of Mr. Young.

"AHH! SORRY SIR! SORRY SORRY SORRY!" Jack shrieked in horror, jumping back a good five feet, his arms outstretched, "I FORGOT! I'M NOT USE TO BEING AT SCHOOL! SORRY SORRY SORRY! FORGIVE ME!" Mr. Young burst into a fit of laughter at the horrified teen's expression.

"Relax, John," he told him, patting the poor boy's shoulder, "I was just kidding…well not really, because you're really not supposed to be doing that. But I won't get you write you up for it." Jack sunk down into his seat as the highly amused teacher continued to his desk, his ponytail flapping behind him. Plio was sitting as well, but, unlike him, had her head down on the desk, covered by her arms, snorting her brains out.

"Bitch."

Class today was a little different. Jack had loved his English class very much his first day—two days ago—but not today. It seemed that everything around him had something that would annoy the hell out of him. Even the tiniest of things, like the quiet hum of the heating system. Jack crouched over his desk in attempt to block everything out but the asshole across from, and a few desks in front of him, was not helping. The stupid kid hadn't liked something Young was teaching and decided to get into a ridiculous, pointless, time consuming argument about it, only making him look dumber.

Why couldn't he have just shut the hell up? No one wanted to hear his irritating voice or listen to him whine and complain for an half an hour. Jack tried to ignore him, tried to pay attention to something else—he stared at Plio beside him for a while and counted the things he loved about her—but nothing really helped. Finally unable to take anymore of the nonsense, Jack raised his hand and instantly met the eyes of Young. The elder man could see the frustration and need for some air in the boy's face. Knowing what the other was thinking, Young just nodded, and Jack quickly sprung from his desk and gathered his things. "Meet me by that big tree outside with Bre, okay," he whispered to Plio as he walked behind her.

"Okay, but are you alright?" she questioned and grabbed his arm, concern overflowing in her beautiful blue eyes. He smiled and winked.

"I'll be fine." Then he was out the door. Plio sunk down in her chair, wrapping her arms around herself. Something was wrong, and not just with Jack but in general. She had just figured that horrid nightmare she had had was just that, a nightmare. But she had had yet another one last night. She had to watch helplessly as Jack slaughtered people one by one…of all ages. He was merciless, laughing as he did so. He had truly become a monster. Yet something told her it wasn't him. That this wasn't his destiny, that someone wanted it to be, but it wouldn't come to be. And even if that was true, she still knew something really bad was going to happen and he was going to be a part of it. Good or evil she couldn't say, but she prayed for it not to be the latter.

The minutes drug on by like molasses on a frozen platter, and when the obnoxious bell finally rung she grabbed her bookbag—having put away her books long before they needed to be—and head for the door. "Wayne!" Young's voice stopped her cold in her tracks. " 'Mere," he said, waving her over. Taking a deep breath, she, reluctantly made her way to the teacher's desk where he awaited.

"Yeah?" she asked, a bit nervous and a little exasperated.

"Is there something going on with John that I might need to know about?" She was without words for a moment, coming up with something to say. Then a practical explanation came to mind.

"He has A.D.D.," Young raised an eyebrow, but otherwise remained quiet, "and his mom is making him take medication. And the medication can make a person very irritable…some days more so than others. And today was just one of those days." There was not a single ounce of belief in her story anywhere on the man's face, but he did not press on.

"Alright, Plio, if you say so. You can go." With a quick thank you, she turned and hurried to the door where the studious Bre awaited. Both girls dashed out the door, leaving the curious teacher behind. Leaning back in his chair, Young pulled open his top drawer and took out a sheet of paper. He stared in total awe at the homework, at the four lettered name…

The aggravation was melting away as the deep breaths of cool air cleansed his lungs. Hundreds of students scurried around him, talking and shouting, but his earlier anger was gone, something of which he was highly grateful. He had wanted to bash that kid's head in, he wanted to make him bleed…like that guy in the alley. That alone scared the hell out of Jack, for he never got mad like that. He had always had a problem with his anger but it never resulted in extreme violence…except with that butt-muncher Andrew ? Usually he was somewhat violent when he was fighting BD, and a little more violent with anyone that tried to hurt her, so why was it so bad now? Nothing had really changed.

'_Maybe I'm finally losing my mind like my father,_' he thought to himself, '_I wonder if Plio would stay by my side if I did go crazy. It'd be nice…_' Closing his eyes, he leaned his head back against the ragged bark of the large tree and allowed the lyrics to flow, "…if I go crazy than will you still call me Superman? If I'm alive and well, will you be there holding my hand? I'll keep you by my side with my superhuman might…Kryptonite."

"Whatcha singing, lover-boy?" Jack's eyes snapped open, immediately looking up to greet the smiling face of his girlfriend, who was looking down at him with her arm propped up against the tree. Jumping up in surprise, he whirled around with a mortified look plastered across his face.

"Uh…I…uh…nothing. I wasn't singing anything."

"Sure you weren't," she teased him, mimicking his earlier wink. "Soooo, what happened in class?" Jack shook his head, holding his hand up.

"Nothing you need to worry about," he smiled sweetly and leaned in to plant a soft, tender kiss upon her lips. "Now, you ladies ready to go?" he asked, wrapping an arm around each girl's shoulders.

"Um…where are we going?" Bre inquired, eyeing the clown curiously.

"We've got to discuss some…_projects._ So I thought why not eat while we talk. Ice-cream sound good?"

"That's not actual food."

"Doesn't matter. Now act natural," he whispered as he pushed them along.

"What's going on Jack?"

"Well," he began, casually glancing around, nodding at random people—which gave him the chance to see if anyone was following—"I figured we might as well fill Bre here in with what exactly is going on. She might come in handy. She could be like a go between." Nonchalantly Plio shook his arm off of her shoulders and snaked hers around his, holding onto it with her other hand.

"Uh…what?" this had definitely not been what she had been expecting. He shouldn't what to put her in any danger. What the hell? "You think that's safe? They won't attack her?" Jack shook his head and looked down at the brunette—whom was staring straight ahead, fear filling her brilliant brown eyes."

"Hey," he said quietly, comforting her by pulling her closer to him, his frame towering over her, "I'm not gonna let them do anything to you. I've already told them to leave you the hell alone…actually," he added as an afterthought, "I told them to leave you alone, too," he nodded at Plio, "but as a heads up…they're probably not going to."

"But why go against you and attack her but not me?" Bre asked, not fully understanding.

"One, because they know I'll kill them if they attack someone that has NO chance of defending themselves, no offence, against something such as the Night's Misery. And secondly, because she's closer to me. They know I'm dating her…her as in Plio Wayne, not BD._ Aaaaand_ I think they might think she might be BD."

"WHAT?!"

"Don't worry, P., even if they _do_ attack you, it's not like you can't take care of yourself." She started to debate but decided against it, only smiling and shrugging in agreement. Jack turned his attention back to the quivering lass on his other side. Once again she was looking on with curiosity, but unsure if she should inquire. So Jack answered her silent question. "The Night's Misery is a new…_gang_, I guess you could say, that's made Gotham their new home. They've asked me to help them become 'great' villains, so I am to keep them from doing horrible things. Which I have no doubt they would do…and will probably eventually start doing if I don't figure out a way to disband them."

"Ahem."

"I mean, if _weee_ don't figure out a way to disband them," he corrected himself with a roll of the eyes. He really didn't want to get Plio involved but it was seeming to be inevitable that she would be. "I'm having to go along with them for awhile until I know exactly how strong they are, in strength and in numbers."

"Okay," Bre said, still trying to figure out what purpose she could serve for them, "but what I can do?" Jack grinned his idiotic grin of giddiness, pulling her even closer to him, and leaning down so he was speaking directly into her ear.

"You can be my personal spy," he whispered, saying it with so much enthusiasm, and in such a childish voice, Bre questioned the seriousness of it.

"Your spy?" It was official, Jack had lost his mind.

"Yes. See, I need someone to do some research on some people, like Melissa Obsédez, O-b-s-e-d-e-z, and I'm pretty sure they've either got my house tapped or they're going to be spying on me—or a combination of both…probably both—and more than likely they'll be doing the same to Plio. So, I need you to get said information and give it to me at school. They can't spy on us there."

"Why can't you just use the school computers?"

"……"

"Yeah, didn't think about that one did you?" Plio laughed, earning a glare from the clown.

"I don't time to do all the stuff I need to do to find out what I need, okay? And neither do you, P., 'cause you've got to start going out every night as BD, or as often as possible. I don't know if these people will be doing stuff behind my back. They're supposed to wait for my 'go ahead.' And think of it this way: she can be our very own Alfred." Plio's head popped up as excitement over took her features, and she began to jump up and down like an idiot.

"Oh my gawd, that's frickin awesome!" she exclaimed, the thought of having someone like Alfred seemed to lift some weight from her heart. That kind, sweet-hearted man had stayed by her father's side through everything. No matter how big or how dangerous the situation had been, he was always right there, waiting for his orders. And after her mother and father were married and had her, he retired to just taking care of Plio, and Tim when he needed to. Alfred had been like her best friend for so long, doing whatever she wanted to do, he'd even play Barbies with her.

And then he got sick, she couldn't remember with what, but it was something no one could help. She had to watch helplessly as he slowly left them, breaking their hearts, and never again would he be there when they needed him…for whatever the reason. Never would he greet them with a warm smile, or tell them he would see them again. The other butler's they had hired were just that, butlers. There would never again be an Alfred, but maybe Bre could help mend her still broken heart. Sure she'd never be Alfred, but it would be nice to have someone to remind her of him…kinda. "Oh, Bre, would you please, pleeeease help? It'd mean a lot."

"Um…" she still wasn't sure, and to be honest, just the thought of helping them scared the hell out of her, but if she could help save the city, why not? "Okay. I'll try." Plio squealed and leapt to embrace her friend in a hug, but was pushed back.

"It's not that big-a-deal, Plio, don't kill the girl with your rainbow of emotions." Immediately she stopped walking before stepping in front of him.

"Yeah, well," she said while pushing him back, breaking his hold on Bre, "you're a buzz killer, so there."

"Better a buzz killer than a pansy," he snorted.

"Oh a pansy am I? Do I need to bring up the time you stepped on that lady bug." Their eyes narrowed.

"You wouldn't."

"Didn't we establish this earlier? I most definitely would." Bre watched in amusement and awe as the two squabbled. Who would have ever thought that the two of them, mortal enemies and all, could have such a normal relationship. It was shame they had to keep it a secret, but she understood why. Jack would always be the villain and she would always be the hero; if word of their love ever got out, their names would be sullied for life. If only other people could understand.

"So…um, who is Alfred?" she muttered, ending the bickering, "What'd he do?" Plio, smiling happily and shoving Jack out of the way, stepped up to her 'normal' friend and began to tell the tale of the man named Alfred Pennyworth. Jack listened to the story he had heard numerous times before, usually on the anniversary of his death, and thought about how much he missed that 'old fart' as well. Laughing to himself he remember once when he and Plio had tagged along with their parents one night and ended up getting into their own fight—like they always did—out front of whatever building it was and Alfred had bandaged them both up. He was a uniquely good person, someone you didn't meet often. '_I hope you're up there, old man, watching over the Waynes, they're gonna need it._' His smile slowly decreased to form a straight line, '_Please make sure she stays safe…especially if I turn on her…_'

Suddenly a painful chill shot up his spin, freezing him in place. They weren't alone. Leisurely his eyes scanned the street and the surrounding buildings. Spotting something black atop a building behind them, Jack spun around, making sure the girls had not noticed, and looked again. '_One…two…three._' There were three of them, spread out among the various buildings. '_How dare they fucking follow me,_' he thought as he bared his teeth at them, moving into a defensive stance. None of them were Penoso—their eyes were not glowing—which he was relieved about, and they ducked when they realized he had spotted them. Taking advantage of the opportunity, he grabbed both girls by the arm and pulled.

"What are you doing, Ja—" Jack's hand fastened over Plio's mouth as he shoved the two of them into the small building at which they had stopped at, quickly shutting the doors behind them. "What's going on?" Plio demanded, going impatient.

"We're being followed," he told her as he stared out of the glass doors, his massive aggravation obvious. "I'm gonna to kill the fucking fucktards," he growled, his voice murderously insane. Plio glanced at the younger teen beside her, whom was staring at the clown before them with slight fear, and cleared her throat. Jack, instantaneously calming down, whirled around to face her when she nodded her head toward the frightened brunette. He smiled as largely as he could, reaching to scratch the back of his head while laughing nervously. "Um hehehe…sorry, Bre. Hehehe. I didn't mean to go all hehehe angry like that on ya. Hehehe I have a slight hehehe anger management problem."

"You don't say," she breathed—while Plio was about to wet herself in hilarity at his stupid laughter—replaying the sound of his menacing voice. Again he laughed anxiously. Plio, calming down and stepping between them, placed a caring, comforting hand upon Bre's shoulder.

"Ignore him," she told her, and she smiled when Jack threw his hands up in the hair like Plio had ruined some moment they were having.

"Yeah, yeah, ignore me, whatever, look, wait here for a while, I'm going to try to lead them away from here, okay?" The girls looked around the small room, the walls were bare and there was nothing indicating what the building was meant to be used for.

"Where are we?" they asked simultaneously.

"It was or is supposed to be a music store or something. I dunno. Just stay here, okay?" They nodded and, sighing in relief, Jack swiftly made his way to his love and kissed her lovingly. "I'll see you later," he told her quietly in her ear, confusing her a little, and waved to Bre, then he vanished out the doors. The girls remained silent as they continued to stare out of the glass, like they were waiting for some kind of monster to run by. How long were they supposed to wait? And how could he expect Gotham's dark angel to wait while some radicals were lose in the city?

"You can go, you know." Plio's head snapped to the side, her eyes wide with puzzlement.

"What?"

"I don't mind waiting here by myself. I know you want to go help, I don't blame you. And look," she pointed to the desk behind them, "there's a computer in here so I can go ahead and start searching for information on that girl he wanted me to…re…search…" she couldn't help but grin at how retarded that sounded. Plio's eyes moved from her friend to the computer to the doors, and then back to Bre. She fiddled with her fingers as she ran the idea of leaving the defenseless teen alone, but she did very much want to go after Jack and the others.

"Okay," she finally decided, "but you have to promise me you'll call your mom to come get you as soon as possible." Bre nodded once with a smile, and then pushed her older friend toward the doors.

"Go, I'll be fine." Plio attempted to argue but Bre had her out the building and on the other side of the locked door before she could say much. After waving at the ignored heiress, and watching her take off down the sidewalk, Bre turned her attention back to the computer and stretched her fingers. "Let's get to work."

…

"I know mom…no I know…yes mom, I know…yes…I know I should have called…yes I know it's six thirty…yes I know there are bad people in the city…yes I know they want to hurt me…Yes! Mom, I get it! Now can you come get me?!...sorry…Okay, I'll meet you outside." Bre slammed her phone shut with a grunt of irritation and shoved it in her pocket. So she was three hours late getting to her mom's office, big deal. She was sixteen, and her mom needed to realize she was bound to do something she didn't approve of…though it wouldn't get much worse than this probably.

Three hours she had spent looking up information on just one person: Melissa "Lithe" Obsédez. It seemed the woman was known all over the place. She worked for a top secret organization in the US as an assassin when she was eighteen. She was an unstoppable force, able to get the job down even in the tightest of situations, earning her the name "Lithe." But she got too into it and murdered some innocent people…with pleasure. They tried to lock her up, but she escaped with ease and fled the country. Though, she wasted no time wiping out her closet colleagues before disappearing, as a message to not pursue her. Then over the next few years she had managed to work for some vary notorious kingpins throughout Europe as a personal body guard or mercenary, before landing in Italy, where she broke a man out of a maximum security prison. A man that was serving an eight life sentence; his name…was Penoso Soffrire.

To date, Lithe has never lost a single fight, at least the one's on record, and is said to be know for killing mercilessly…sometimes for no reason at all. If this chick had made Gotham her new home, Bre wanted to move to Metropolis. Grabbing the papers out of the printer, she snatched up her backpack and tote-bag and headed out to the sidewalk. She waited anxiously for her mom, flipping through the several pieces papers to pass the time by before pulling out a folder to place them safely in.

"Whacha got there?" Bre froze and her heart nearly stopped. "Hey, girlie, I asked 'Whacha got there?'" It wasn't like the voice was frightening or threatening, it was actually cheery with a childlike curiosity, but something about it petrified the girl. Cautiously, Bre turned her head to the right and immediately spotted the woman leaning against the next building…watching her like a predator. "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you," she told Bre with a smile, using her foot to push herself from the wall, "I'm just curious of what you've got?"

"N-n-nothing," Bre managed to stutter, her shaking hands stuffing the papers inside the folder.

"Let me see," the woman said, extending her arm, her voice a whisper filled with a strange desire. Bre backed up. "C'mon, I just want to see, I promise." Again, Bre inched back, thrusting the folder into the tote-bag. Becoming annoyed, the woman dropped her arm and stepped into the light…Bre's eyes swelled with tears.

"It's n-n-none of your b-business." Bre's voice was shaky and frantic, but she did her best to hold it together…though it seemed pointless.

"Don't make me ask again," the woman advised her, ignoring the youth's comment, "give me those papers, and everything will be fine." Bre shook her head and took off, sprinting in the opposite direction. She did not get very far, though, before she was caught by the hair and thrown back against the side of the building whence she had just departed from. Bre emitted a God awful, bloody scream of pain, but was silenced as her attacker placed a hand firmly over her mouth. "Now, there is _no_ need for that. All I want are the papers that stupid bastard asked you for."

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Bre shrieked when the woman removed her hand.

"Don't act stupid,," she snarled through gritted teeth, "I know Jackendaboks asked you to do something for him. Now what was it?!"

"I _DON'T_ know what you're _TALKING_ about!" Growling, the woman yanked the girl forward before slamming her back again. Bre bit her lip in attempt to keep from crying out.

"DON'T LIE TO ME! I saw you with him! You, him, and that skank of a rich bitch!"

"Do you mean John?!" Bre figured her best bet was to play dumb, maybe if this psychopath thought she knew nothing she'd leave her be. "I was with Plio and her boyfriend John Lichtenstein."

"I said not to act stupid, bitch!" she shouted, the back of her hand swept across the frail girl's face with a sickening sound. A trickle of blood flowed from the corner of her mouth and down her chin. The elder female—now clutching the front of Bre's shirt—held up a finger and closed her eyes, taking a couple of deep breaths to relax. "Look," she said, sounding a bit more like a reasonable person, "I can tell you are a very intelligent girl, so I know you know that that was Jackendaboks. Anyone with brains could figure out that that was him." Bre shook her head again.

"No, John's not Jack, I mean I know he looks similar and all, but Jack's white. I mean not like 'a white guy' but like he's actually whi—,"

"I KNOW WHAT HE FUCKING LOOKS LIKE!" Bre whimpered and tried to look away but her face was held firmly in place—the woman's fingers cupped around her chin. "Fine," she spat, "I'll take it _myself_." Bre watched as the woman reached down into her bag, her hand heading straight for the bright yellow folder. She had to stop her; she would destroy the papers before Jack could see them. With all her strength, Bre shoved her foot into the woman's abdomen, knocking her back and almost to the ground. Yet again, Bre tried to get away, tried to, but was grabbed once more by the hair and wrenched back. "Stupid bitch! I'll teach you to mess with me!" Bre smiled, though she knew not why.

"You mean…'not'… to mess with you…right?" she breathed between gasps of pain from her aching scalp. "You don't want…to sound like…a moron…when you threaten…someone, do you?" Something told her she wasn't going to live through this, so why not have fun? The back of the woman's gloved hand clashed with the side of Bre's face again, this time causing her to fall to the concrete, her nose busted. "I was just…being nice," she breathed, trying to catch her breath, her hand over her bloody nose.

"Nobody corrects me," her voice was venomous and terrifyingly sadistic, "and if they do," she continued, the back of her fingers stroking Bre's wet cheek, "I'll rip their heads off," she whispered with a maniacal grin. "Got that down?" Bre propped her self up, her eyes to the ground, on her hands, and smiled more.

"Don't end your sentences with a preposition."

"OH, THAT'S IT!" Bre was jerked from the ground and held against the cold, brick wall like before. "You really shouldn't have pissed me off, girl," she screamed, her right hand—the left now grasping Bre's throat—snaked it's way down to the sheath of the katana strapped to her waist. "All I wanted were the papers, but, nooo, you had to act all tough and waste my time," the deadly blade slid an inch out with the flick of her thumb, "Pitty." Pulling the weapon the rest of the way out as she stepped back, she let go of the tearful teen, but before Bre could move, the tip of the blade was pointed at the nape of her neck. "You are such a pretty girl; I'd hate to end your life." She paused. "I'll give you one last chance to just hand me what I want, and I'll let you live."

"Go to Hell, I told you I don't know Jackendaboks." The tip of the katana pushed lightly against the warm flesh of the girl's throat, silencing her.

"Then why, did _John_ pull you to safety when he spotted your pursuers?"

"I don't know! Maybe because that's what a good person does! Which is what he is! They protect others! I mean, are you that stupid?!" The sharp point pressed a little deeper against her skin, a red stream beginning to run down her chest.

"I'm soooo tired of people calling me stupid," she stated with a chuckle of insanity. "I was just going to knock you out and take the papers myself. He hates it when I make a mess, but maybe he'll understand this time." Slowly she swung the blade back over her left shoulder, smiling. "See you in the afterlife…" Her arm flinched and Bre squeezed her eyes shut, but nothing happened. Then she heard it, the voice villains came to fear. The voice of an angel.

"I wouldn't be doing that if I were you…Lithe."

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_**X**_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Anyways…so, Charlie almost outted poor Jack, that bitch, and Plio knows Jack's got something going on behind her back…smart girl. Bre's been giving the assignment as "New Alfred,"…can she do it? Will she be able to handle the bad that comes with the job? I DON'T KNOW!…yes, I know that I'm retarded okay! Hehe. And that stupid bitch, Lithe, how dare she beat the hell out of someone like sweet and innocent Bre? That's just horrible. But thank goodness that someone showed up. Hmmm, I wonder who it was??? Stay tuned to find out!

Luv ya!

Dyno


	15. Circus

I still do not own Batman…damn…

OH MY GAWD! I'M SO SO SO SORRY! DUDE! IT'S BEEN OVER TWO MONTHS SINCE MY LAST UPDATE! HOLY CRAP MONKEYS, BATMAN! But it wasn't my fault. I started college soon after my last update, like a week later, and it's just been hell. I'm just not good at doing lots of work…required work…and I've had to work extra hard. Not to mention my betas have been so busy cuz, well, you know, we're going up…damn. NoRA is always working and Animelimit joined our military so she's ALWAYS busy. So I had to do the beta-ing myself. So I there are any mistakes, I'll have my betas help me fix them and i'll repost it. Don't worry.

But y'all don't care…and I don't blame you.

Anyways, so in our last chapter poor Bre got attacked by the buttwipe, Lithe, and someone came to her rescue. Hmmm, now several of you…or really just a couple…had some ideas, but let's see if you were right. WHO COULD IT BE?! I JUST DON'T KNOW?!

Now on with chapter 15!

**Chapter 15: Circus**

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"I wouldn't be doing that if I were you…_Lithe_." There had never been a time in all of Bre Inkling's life when she was happier to see someone than she was at that very moment. The once frightful tears that had flooded her eyes now flowed as tears of rejoice, and she sunk slowly to the ground in a mixture of shock and relief. BD, still clasping the gleaming blade, moved leisurely in a semi-circle like fashion—as did Lithe in the opposite direction—so that she was standing in front of her fallen comrade.

"Tisk, tisk…" Lithe smiled while shaking her head humorously, "you've gone and told her who I am, now I'll have to kill her for sure," she stated very matter-of-factly, as if it would not matter. She smiled more as she began to imagine the many different ways she could silence the annoying brat for good. BD cringed out of disgust, praying she would never have to find out what was going through the woman's masochistic mind. Gaining her composure, she stole a glance at the traumatized teen behind her and smiled apologetically.

"Are you alright?" she asked, but Bre said nothing, only continued to stare at her feet. Lithe giggled lightly to herself, obviously pleased with her handy work. BD's head snapped back to the merciless psychopath, a glower upon her face. Her gaze fell to her hand, "Nice sword," she said as her eyes moved up and down the glistening, folded metal.

"It's a Japanese_ katana_…not a _sword._" BD cackled with amusement and disbelief for the woman before her.

"…THAT'S WHAT A KATANA IS!" She blurted out, though she knew not whether it was in irritation or hilarity, "YOU STUPID PIECED OF DUMBASS SHIT! IT'S A _JAPANESE_ SWORD!" The moment she finished her statement, BD slightly wished she had remained quiet, for the look on the woman's face was enough to make the Devil himself quiver in his shoes. The blade in question was ripped from the heroine's hand, causing her to gasp with un-expectancy while quickly letting go, as Lithe jerked it up and back before lowering the tip to the concrete. The villainess's deadly eyes stayed locked on the determined eyes of the teen challenging her.

"Do not," her voice was as cold as ice, "EVER call me stupid," it was more of a threat than a suggestion, or perhaps a threatening suggestion, as the insane grimace in her eyes grew with every passing second. "You understand, you disrespectful little whore?" BD could do little to keep from smiling, a problem she had when trying to cope with nervousness or awkwardness.

"You know, calling someone a 'whore' isn't the best comeback, because unless they really are one, it just has no affect…and you end up looking _stupid_," she added the last bit as an afterthought, putting as much emphasis on the word 'stupid' as humanly possible, but she wished she hadn't. Holding the sword up and vertical in front of her face, Lithe grinned widely while BD's slowly diminished, her fear suddenly getting the best of her. Something in her smile warned the teen that there would be bloodshed…somewhere, and Lithe would have something to do with it.

"I told you," she said, her voice now calm, yet frighteningly ominous, "not to call me stupid." The katana, which had been raised above her right shoulder, whistled as it sliced through the air at a downward angle. Bre, having slightly come back to reality, exhaled a shrill of terror, squeezing her eyes shut as she had done but a moment earlier. She had been anticipating the sound of metal slicing through both flesh and bone, but what she heard was not that of metal on flesh but that of metal upon metal. Slowly opening her eyes once more, she saw the deadly katana pressing down onto the sleeve of BD's right arm—which was hovering over her head defensively—but was not cutting into it. Lithe pushed down has hard as she could, while BD pushed up with equal force, but it made no difference, her blade wasn't going to get through. Frustrated, she pulled it back, leaping back a bit as well, as BD pushed the weapon away. Straightening herself, BD looked the elder woman directly in the eye and smiled, holding her forearms up perpendicular to the ground, allowing her sleeves to fall. There, on each arm, hidden beneath the cotton, was some type of armor plating, black as the night.

"Like 'em?" she asked, watching the red-head as she eyed the arm bands curiously. "They were my dad's…from his old costume. Didn't think they'd ever really come in handy," she said, admiring the well-made armor, it had to be between twenty and thirty years old, and yet it was still as strong as it was the day it was made.

"Heh…" Lithe laughed, straightening herself, her sword pointing back down to the ground beside her, "this might just end up being more fun than I had expected." BD instinctively moved back in front of the still cowering Bre—whom was being stared down by the psychopath—and took a defensive stance, waiting for the strike. "Shall we dance?" with that, the two lunged at one another, Lithe's deadly blade swinging back before slicing through the air once more.

.

The back doors to the bank flung open with a loud _BAM_ and three of the cloaked villains crashed to the floor before scurrying to their feet and running to their leader, Penoso. "I told you not to be following me, you asshole! I HATE being followed!" The murderous Italian held his arms out to the side, palms up, as his frightened minions scampered behind him, huddling together.

"Please forgive me, my dear prince…" Jack grunted in disapproval, "…I mean, Jack. I did not intend for my men to come across as 'following' you, I only sent them to look out for you." His glowing green eyes—the only physical feature of his face again—narrowed ever so slightly.

"I need _no_ one's protection," he growled. "There's nothing in this city that can hurt me…never has been," he said the last little bit with a vast sense of pride. Chuckling in amusement—a noise that oddly made him sound as if he were any other person—the man walked up to the teen clown and patted him on the his shoulder.

"I know you can, Jack, I just worry," he laughed; Jack made a "Heh" kind of sound, but really didn't find anything funny. Penoso strolled out into the vast lobby of Gotham's largest bank while the clown followed close behind, his hands stuffed in his pockets and his scowl glared around the room. Oh how he did not want to be there. Big time heists like this were not his style. In the middle of the gigantic room stood about fifteen to twenty other cloaked men—he was too lazy to count them…but it was fifteen—all huddled together, talking amongst themselves, but hushed when their leader appeared. "Alright, men," he said excitedly, his arms spread wide as they got closer, "now that we are all here," he made a gesture toward the kid behind him, "we can get started."

"Okie dokie, Smokie," Jack grinned boyishly and the elder man returned the gesture, though he did not find his playful attitude very comical. "Whadda we do first?"

"Well—"

"Wait," he said suddenly as if remembering something important, cutting the man off and irritating him to no end.

"What is it, Jack?"

"How do you plan to get the money out of here? I mean, 'cause you can have a well thought out plan," he said the last word with disgust, he hated planned actions, being spontaneous was a hell of a lot more fun, "but if you haven't given much thought on how to 'escape,' than that well thought out plan of yours, _isn't_ really gonna do you much good, is it now?" The man began to speak, but Jack cut him off once again, shorting the man's fuse. "You aren't gonna use a school bus, are you? 'Cause they did that in the movie and that would be copyright infringement…I think. Maybe. Depends. Is it infringement…?" Jack faded off into a deep thought on what was and wasn't considered infringement and if asking permission was okay, before glancing over at the cluster of men whom were staring confusedly and dumbfounded at him. "What?" The Italian gawked, puzzled, for a moment before he regained his composure.

"To…answer your first question, Jack, no," he said, getting himself back on track. Now, here is the plan, from beginning to _end_," ending his sentence with more emphasis than necessary, much to the clown's delight. "First: those four large men over there," he pointed to the small group of ridiculously muscular goons standing in front of the main entrance doors, "they will guard the front entrance, and I guarantee you, no one will get through them…at least, not will ease…and gunfire." He grinned sadistically at the thought of a bloody battle. "Those three," he then pointed to the few heading off to a room behind the long counter, "will take care of all the security codes and alarm systems…along with that 'private' signal sent out to that nuisance of a heroine." Jack laughed silently to himself, there was no alarm for BD, he just always told her when he was robbing something…or when someone else was. He hated competition. "And then those other three will clean out the twelve small volts behind the counter—"

"Hold up, now, robbing a bank isn't that hard, so why all the unnecessary effort and help?"

"My dear boy, the point of this robbery is stealth. When we leave here, there will be absolutely no trace that we were ever here. No explosions, no picked locks, no DNA, no video. It will be as if the money simply vanished. And for that to happen, you need a great deal of help."

"…Uh huh," he uttered, not convinced—he'd robbed this place plenty of times before without leaving a trace…he paused as a thought struck him. "How much money are you planning to take, Soffrire? All of it?" Penoso smiled giddily.

"Precisely." The idiot must have been out of his damn mind. Not only was that a cubic butt-ton of money to get out of there, but there was absolutely no point to that. No need. Besides, what the hell was he going to do with all that money? The man didn't really strike him as someone that would _pay_ for a trip to the Bahamas.

"Why would you do that?" he asked, truly confused. "If you take all the money, it'll be a while before they can restock enough to make robbing it again worth the effort. I mean, that's why you should only steal a fraction. That way, in a couple of days, they will have replaced what they lost and you can rob them again…and again…aaand again." Penoso cocked an eyebrow, not following.

"Why would want to rob multiple times when you can take all the money at once?" Jack's arms flew up into the air in an act of frustration for the man's lack of understanding.

"For fun! Jeez." Penoso's scowl lightened and he chuckled, patting the boy has he had done minutes before.

"Your father and mother were the same way. However, I will teach you _exactly_ how to have some _real_ fun." Jack all of a sudden got a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach, but neither said nor did anything, for he could never pass up a chance to have a good time.

"Alright," he smiled Jokerishly, "let's have a good time." The elder man nodded and attempted to resume telling of the night's plan, but was stopped—his eye twitched. "Hey, wait, so where's your little bitch, what's-her-face?" Penoso shrugged.

"I do not know. _Lithe_ went on her own secret mission about four hours ago; I'm expecting her within the next half hour to an hour. I can't think of what could be keeping her."

.

"OW! God, DAMNIT!" Plio was certain her frame had been embossed in the brick wall that time; she'd been thrown into it enough times to have created a collage of body imprints. Just as she recovered her equanimity the tip of the bloody katana came hurtling toward her face. Quickly knocking it away with her left arm, she spun around and kicked the older woman in the side of her face with her heel. She had been involved in numerous battles—some more bloody than others, with who knows how many rotten crooks in the city, and some even had some interesting talents and skills—however, never had she been put up against someone as tough and fierce, and as deadly as this insane red-head now.

"I'll give you credit," Lithe wiped the trail of blood from her mouth with the back of her hand, "not many people can hold their own against me."

"I had a good teacher," she snapped, readying herself for another attack. "Now bleed." Moving again, she spread her arms wide—her hands now sporting black spiked brass knuckles, her own creation—and then leapt, spinning, into the air so that she was parallel to the concrete ground beneath her. Lithe barely had enough time to step back, out of the way of the razors attached to the girl's fingers. However, BD landed on her hands and was able to push up, nailing the sociopath on the underneath of her jaw. She stumbled back, crying out in pain as the heroine continued with a back flip, clocking her in the ribs. With her patience now nonexistent and her sanity completely drained, Lithe clutched the chipped weapon and planned to lop off the nuisance's head.

"After I kill you," she said as she began to pull herself up, one arm wrapped around her ribs, "I'm gonna come back for that bitch." Her eyes locked on the petrified brunette while she managed to upright herself enough that she was in a kneeling position, her head tilted slightly back and to the side. Bre stared deeply into the hazel irises seeing only evil. She could see the pain this woman had caused, the innocent blood drawn for the sheer hell of it, the destruction she left in her wake. Bre knew that no matter the outcome of whatever battle was soon to be had in Gotham between good and evil, it would leave the city in a state of despair like it had never seen before.

.

"JACK!"

"Oh shit…" The voice was ear splittingly annoying, a sound that would make a person want to scream and possibly commit murder…well…maybe just the clown on that one. Why did she have to remember to show up? He was hoping she would have gotten hit by a bus on the way there…really. The rambunctious blonde rushed to her obsession with glee, awaiting her orders. "Hi, baby," she said in a frivolous voice. Jack rolled his eyes in revulsion, there was only one person he wanted to call him 'baby' and she was _definitely _not her…thank _GOD_.

"Glad to see you could make it," he lied through gritted teeth and a forced smile—he was sure he looked more like he was in pain than delighted to see her…not that he wasn't…in pain that is. He briefly and adoringly brushed her cheek with curled fingers, feeding her deranged mind for his own hilarity. "Are you sure you wanna help? If we get caught, you could get arrested along with the rest of us." She smiled slyly.

"I'm not worried," she told him confidently, her fore and middle fingers danced on his chest, "I'll just tell them you forced me to help against my will." He smiled in return before leaning into her ear.

"I assure you that, with my 'gentlemen thief' reputation, I can get them to believe that to be false." Charlie's heart sank ever so slightly…he was serious.

"You would let me go to jail?" she frantically asked when he stood back, fear rising in her body, and for a split second she regretted her actions. He chuckled.

"Charlie," he spoke sweetly with a faint vindictiveness, "I'm a criminal…I don't…give a damn." She stared deeply into his yellow eyes, the eyes of a madman, and her body shivered with goose-bumps. "Besides," he continued, crossing his arms, "it'll be hilarious for me. Not to mention going to prison with or for me will prove your love for me." She swallowed hard at the idea of actually being locked up. Jack's sneer beamed in spite of her obvious dismay, and he gently cupped her chin. "Don't worry, though, love; if we are to get arrested, I would not escape without you. I would owe that much to you for getting you into this." Her troubled expression slowly brightened as the corners of her mouth began to curl. "That's my girl," he whispered.

"Jack," Penoso called as he approached the pair of teenagers, "who may this young lady be?" he asked, nodding at the smiling blonde, hiding his irritation. Charlie latched onto Jack's arm aggressively and he had to use every bit of strength he had to keep his eyes from rolling completely into the back of his head. When all this shit with the Italian was done and over with, he was so placing her crazy ass in a padded cell at Arkham.

"This would be Charlie," he told the grinning lunatic, "she's my…uh…my…um…_assistant._" Penoso glanced at the girl and then back to the clown prince, aware of the untruthfulness of the explanation. However, he felt asking anymore questions would be a waste of their precious, limited time.

"Whatever you say, Jack, but we must get started if we wish to finish in time." Jack stared in awe.

"Dude. It's only eight something. If we get started now, we'll definitely be caught. I mean, how much time do you need to get all that money in the vault out? I've seen how much is in there, how much it can hold. It won't take that…" Penoso grinned menacingly from ear to ear, "…long. Wait…hold on," Jack took a step forward, shaking the clinging girl from his arm, so that he was but mere inches from the man's face, "you're not planning on stealing _all_ of the money here" he asked, making a small circle with his finger in the air. Penoso nodded once ever-so lightly.

"I told you that was the plan earlier." Jack's jaw dropped to the tiled floor below in utter disbelief and disapproval.

"Hell no! You made it sound like we were stealing all the money out of THIS vault, not ALL THE VAULTS! Are you out of your FUCKING mind!" he exclaimed, flapping his arms like a retarded bird. "This building is six stories tall! Do you have any idea just how much money that is?!"

"Quite a lot."

"No shit, Sherlock! I mean, what in the HELL do you plan to do with all of that?" He stopped and leaned back while holding his arm out and pointing his finger at the man. "You see, this is when my similarities with my father come in: I just do not understand what the big damn deal is with money! You can have fun, exploit pain and chaos, and just be plain evil without the usage of money!"

"We need the money to obtain the equipment we will need." Jack's arms dropped to his sides, his mouth still ajar, and his eye twitching.

"Seriously? No seriously? You can't just steal it?"

"No, of course not."

"…" Jack crossed his arms and turned his body away from the elder man, muttering, "…no, of course not…stealing would be wrong."

"Now, I and some of my men are heading down to the first vault. When you finish with your…" he glanced at the blonde once more, "_business_ here, I would appreciate it if you were to join us."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," he waved, returning his attention back to his 'favorite' psychopathic stalker. "So, you want a job to do?" She smiled ever so evilly.

.

Damnit, what the hell was taking Bre's mother so long? The poor girl had called her like two hours ago and she only lives like ten minutes from where they were. This was not like her mom, her mom was a very serious and OCD person and when she said she was going to be somewhere by a certain time, she was sure as hell going to be there. Not to mention her only child was in incredible danger, sitting amongst a fight between the dark angel, BD, and a psycho red-head from hell. BD had to do something to get her friend out of there, but how? She tried to move away, tried to get Lithe to follow her to a safer place, but when she did so, the woman would always lung for the broken brunette.

"Bre, do you know what the hell could be keeping your mom?"

"No! She's never late." Bre was trying her hardest to keep it together, but considering everything she had gone through that night that was easier said than done. Just looking at the girl made BD want to cry.

"I doubt your mother or anyone else will be getting near here anytime soon. I made sure of that." BD's head whipped back to the woman standing opposite of her.

"What are you talking about? What did you do?!"

"I'm sure they're still cleaning up the wreckage," she laughed so cunningly, "it was such a horrible collision." The girls gasped in unison, there was just no way she did what they were thinking. "I wouldn't be surprised if there were some…_casualties_." BD gritted her teeth and clenched her fist before lunging at her deadly opponent.

"YOU FUCKING BITCH!" Lithe spun out of the way and launched herself at the defenseless teen on the ground yet again. But she stopped just before she reached the girl, the tip of her katana just short of Bre's face.

"Damnit," she murmured to herself while digging into her pocket. Pulling out a small pocket watch, she flipped it open and took one look before shutting and placing it back into its rightful place. "I'm late." Lithe lifted the deadly blade up and slid it delicately into its handmade sheath. "I hope you don't mind if we finish this little squabble somewhere else, BD, I have a prior engagement and I would like to be there to see it follow through."

"I don't care where we finish it just as long as I'm the one that gets to lop off your head." Lithe smiled sweetly, it made the girls' stomachs cringe.

"I assure you that will not happen tonight," she kindly stated, keeping her burning green eyes locked on her frail prey. "And do no worry, sweetie," her voice was loving yet as venomous as the most deadly of snakes, "you will not be attacked anymore tonight, or for the next few days. Nor will you be attacked by anyone else, I hate it when my work is finished by some other person, so you won't be seeing any of Penoso's lackeys." She paused for a moment as if to make sure she had said all that needed to be said. "Oh, and I won't be attacking in your home or anywhere in side for that matter or crowded, I like to have space. And don't be staying in places like that because if I grow aggravated, I will kill everyone around you as well."

"Why are you telling me this than?" Lithe squatted down, balancing her weight on the balls of her feet, allowing her arms to rest on her upper legs.

"Because I'm a fucking bitch, that why!" Bre squealed and hid her face in her arms. Lithe reached out and lifted her head up by grabbing a fistful of her hair, smiling all the while. "And I like to mess with people's heads." A strange sound came from behind the fiery red-head, a threatening sound. "She's pissed, isn't she?" she whispered with a sneer. Rising, she shot a last glance back at the livid heroine, "Kill you later, bi-otch." And with that she leapt up onto the latter attached to the side of the building and disappeared onto the roof. As soon as the woman was out of sight, Plio ran to her friend's side, wrapping her arms around her tightly and protectively.

"I'm so sorry, Bre," she sobbed, "I shouldn't have left you alone. This is all my fault."

"No," she barked, pushing Plio away, "it's not. You didn't make me piss her off. I pissed her off all by my lonesome, big girl self." Plio smiled, relaxing—knowing she wouldn't be able to stop that wretch if she was in a fit of despair—and placed her hand atop Bre's shoulder.

"Okay, true, you are a dumbass," she laughed, helping her wrecked comrade up. "I hate to do this to you again—though in some weird way I trust what she said—but I've got to leave you again. Just go inside that building and lock yourself in one of the back rooms. Okay?"

"Okay, but it's locked." Rolling her eyes she pulled Bre gently around the building, keeping her broken ribs in mind, to the double glass doors. In one swift kick to the frame, the doors burst open with a loud crashing sound. Plio hurried the younger girl inside and bid her goodbye before leaving into the night. "Just don't die," Bre whispered to no one.

.

"Okay, so, I'm gonna need you to stay here," Jack more or less commanded, pointing to the roof below his feet with both forefingers, "and all I want you to do is keep a look out. Okay?" Charlie nodded.

"But what do I do if I spot someone coming?" Jack thought for a second and then reached into one of his many pockets, pulling out two small walkie-talkies.

"Here," he handed one of them to her after cutting it on, "if you see anyone, just use this. And I'll be up here as soon as I can." He turned to leave the nympho but she grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"What? I don't get a kiss." Jack's face distorted into repulsion. '_Dear God, is this girl ever gonna stop?_' Quickly he leaned down and kissed her softly, knowing he wouldn't get out of there until he did—or at least that what he told himself—and then left her to find the Italian. "Hmm, he loves me," she said to herself, spinning around. "I know he does. Oooo, and it's gonna fun when he finally takes it to the next level."

"Talking to your self isn't good, you know. It'll make people think you're insane." The unexpected voice had Charlie jumping and shrieking in fright. Swiveling she gasped at the sight of the pink and black vigilantly, as did BD at the sight of her.

"Where have you been," Penoso demanded coldly as his second in command entered the room with the heavily guarded, main vault.

"I'm very sorry I'm so late, my love," Lithe spoke softly, her lips at her lover's ear, as she pressed herself against his back. Her arms snaked their way under his and around his waist as she rested her chin atop his shoulder. "I got caught up in a fight."

"Apparently. You look like merda." Jack leaned over nonchalantly and whispered to his enemy of a partner.

"That's 'shit' in Italian."

"I KNEW THAT!"

"Did not." The red-head growled as she struggled to contain her vase hatred for the young boy.

"Lithe," Penoso warned and the woman immediately relaxed.

"I'm sorry, it's just, that annoying bitch got in my way. And I wasted so much time trying to get rid of her."

"And I bet you ran off without finishing the fight. Right? You ran off like a little bitch…that you are." She spun around, her finger in his face.

"YOU KNOW WHAT, YOU LITTLE FUCKTARD—"

"Lithe!"

"Err…I mean, it doesn't matter if I left the fight or not, I left a bad enough impression that she'll be busy for hours."

"Well, I do hope you did not do too much damage, we would not want the entire police force on our tails. It would throw us completely off our schedule."

"No, of course not, my love, I just roughed her and her friend up a bit, that's all. Her friend more so than herself."

"_Bre_?" Jack breathed hysterically to himself. In an act of absolute fury he grabbed the woman by the throat, too quickly for her to react, and threw her against the wall, holding her there firmly while her feet dangled inches off the floor. "You fucking BITCH! Why the fuck would you hurt Bre?! Anyone with eyes could see she more than likely doesn't know how to defend herself. And if not than you'd learn that quickly." His teeth were gritted and his voice deadly. Lithe looked to her lover for help—she was being choked and could not break free—but Penoso only watched, amused and wanting to see just how far the boy would take it. The other members working on the door of the vault dared not to look up for their leader would not hesitate in killing them if they slowed his operation down even the slightest.

"I…didn't know…you were…such a…caring person…Jack."

"I've told you, I'm a man of honor, and I hate people like you. People that would rather beat on those that can't defend themselves than fight those who could put up an equal battle."

"We're the bad guys…_Jacky_, it's what…we do," her smile reached from ear to ear. Jack's grip on her throat loosened slightly as he stared intently into her soulless gaze. "You and me…we ain't…so different," her voice was barely a whisper as she struggled to breathe. "You enjoy chaos…just like your daddy…only you say…you don't like…to hurt people. Well, I've got…news for you, boy…your dear ole dad…wasn't always the cynical…sadistic murderer…he's know as today. And believe me…when I say," she spoke as darkly and as cruelly as she could, "you'll acquire…the same thirst…for pandemonium…soon enough." Jack stared off into space, his own fear of becoming the thing he hated most eating away at his insides, tearing him apart. She was lying. He controlled his future and no one else was going to decide what he was going to turn out to be. "And when you do," she continued, Jack's eyes snapped back to her cold stare, "that little…pink bitch of yours," his blood began to boil, "will be…as good as dead." By the time the unthinkable words escaped her lips Jack slammed her back into the concrete wall as hard as he could, his mind on the brink of madness.

"No one," he snarled through gritted teeth, their faces almost touching, "tells me what to do, or what I'm going to do, asshole." His hand squeezed her throat shut, and she did all she could to hide her pain. "And I am NOTHING like that fucking bastard." As his hand constricted even more another hand was placed upon his arm.

"Let her go, Jack." The Clown Prince turned his head and met the understanding eyes of his secret enemy, but he did not let up. "She is of some importance for tonight and for our master plan, Jack. I need her." Still he did nothing. Penoso sighed, "I promise, she _will_ be dealt with…_severely_." Lithe attempted to glare back at her lover but the lack of oxygen was causing her vision to blur and she wasn't sure where exactly to glare. Slowly he relaxed his fingers and allowed the woman to slump down to the cold floor, gasping for air. Penoso patted the boy's back before returning to his men at work. "Now, let us get this door open—" the lights in the room flickered followed by a loud pop and two of the lackeys flew across the room. Jack, instantly forgetting about his rage, burst into an uncontrollable fit of laughter.

"HA! I forgot about that! HAHA!" He breathed, attempting to calm himself. "They put in a new defense system that'll shock you with 120 volts, which is just enough to kill you actually." He took another deep breath, "And you've got to disarm it fifteen times before it actually shuts off." Again, Penoso sighed…this was going to be a long night.

.

"Charlie?" she said so quiet to herself it was nearly inaudible. "What the fuck are you doing up here?"

"Heh, wouldn't you like to know," she spat with a snotty tone and a growing sneer. The teen heroine gawked for a moment at the stupid remark.

"_YES_ you dumbass piece of shit," she finally said, the sneer disappeared, "that's why I fucking asked."

"Well, if you must know, I'm helping my boyfriend." BD, silent at first, began to laugh hysterically. "What's so fucking funny?!"

"You really are pathetic, you know that?" Charlie crossed her arms and waited impatiently for an explanation for the ridiculous insult. "He doesn't love you, he's just using you. He's a bad guy, Charlie, a villain, it's what they do. Mess with people." Charlie took a step back, her arms dropping to her side.

"How do you know my name?" Without missing a beat, without showing her sudden panic for her rookie slip, BD smiled and waved off the question with a simple answer.

"Jackendaboks told me." It was believable, just because they were enemies didn't mean they couldn't have a conversation. Though, the idea of that was highly unusually but still possible. Right? The blonde was silent for an excruciating couple of seconds while BD mentally cursed herself out, and when Charlie finally spoke, BD released an exasperated sigh of relief.

"Really?" she asked suspiciously.

"Y-yes." Again she was silent…but not for long. Suddenly she gasped loudly with enthrallment and joy.

"Oh, I knew he loved me!" she squealed, clapping her hands together like a child. "He even brags about me to his archenemy. And now he's letting me help him, if that's not love than I don't know what is."

"Y-yeah. You know, letting me know he's here isn't exactly helping him." Her face fell, stricken with self disappointment, she failed her love. "So…yeah…I'm just gonna go ahead inside," BD moved to walk around her newly discovered psychotic friend, but Charlie stepped in front of her, cutting her off.

"Sorry, but I can't let you do that." Charlie raised her hand up to her mouth and BD spotted the walkie-talkie. Before she could say a single word of warning to her beloved a long, black snakelike object cracked through the air and snatched the device out of her hand, leaving a shallow gash on both her palm and the back of her hand. Charlie cried out in pain and clasped her wounded hand with the other, binding slightly over, and stared at the so-called dark angel in horror and disbelief, the thick, leather whip at her side. Suddenly BD had her by the collar of her shirt.

"Listen, you little dipshit, you're neither a villain, nor a bad guy, nor a crook, so you can either get the fuck out of my way and I let no one know you were here, or you take up more of my time and I treat you like one of those cronies downstairs and beat you to a bloody pulp. The choice is yours but you better make it quick 'cause I hate waiting." Charlie said nothing, and made no move, so BD jerked her off to the side and continued on her way, only to have to stop once more. Spinning around she caught the blonde's good hand midair, and bent it back to the point of near breakage. She smiled with merriment at the agonizing pained expression on her friend's face. Leaning in so that her mouth was to Charlie's ear, she whispered, "My mother was Catwoman, so don't make the mistake of thinking you can surprise me. Especially an ordinary crackpot like you." And with that, she kicked the criminal wannabe in the abdomen and sent her flying across the roof. It actually frightened BD a bit to realize how much she _didn't_ hate doing that to her longtime friend, but she had more important things to worry about now. Tossing the walkie-talkie over the side of the building, she gave the unconscious Charlie one last glance before disappearing through the roof door.

.

The two of them had been at it for a while, well, it was more him than her, but either way neither was happy with the other. Jack had attempted to listen outside the door but it was nearly soundproof so he just enjoyed the muffled sound of that obnoxious bitch getting chewed out. He figured, and hoped, her punishment would worsen when they got home. Sure that was mean, but he hated her so he really didn't care. She was a bitch from hell that didn't know bullshit, there was absolutely no way in hell he was or was ever going to be _anything_ like his father. No, no way, never. He might have been a criminal, but he still wasn't a monster like that bastard. He was never cruel just to be cruel or caused epic chaos because he was bored.

But what if he _was_ going to end up like his father? What if he_ was_ going to become some insane mass murderer? What if he hurt Plio? What if he hurt her beyond healing? If he ever killed her he would never be able to live with himself. But if he did become that which he feared, would he even care? No, he couldn't think about any of that, he had to focus on the present. If he wanted to keep himself from turning into his father he needed to work on his sudden, growing anger management problem. Besides, he'd hurt Plio plenty of times before and if he could do that then without causing any serious damage, than he should be able to continue that. 'Should' being the operative word…but _could_ he? "ERRR! Damnit, Jack! Shut the fuck up! Stop being such a fucking baby!" he shouted quietly to himself, lightly beating the sides of his head.

The idiots where still trying to disarm the electrical defense around the door, the other three guys had been thrown across the room as well, and they'd only been able to disarm it seven out of the fifteen times required. Each time the disarming was needed to be done differently—they did it that way to make sure no one got in—and they just couldn't figure it out. He _could_ help them, he new how to do it all, hell he watched them put it in…oblivious to the people at the bank, but he'd rather watch in amusement. Besides, giving them the code that would disarm it completely in one fell swoop would just be too nice.

The little vaults upstairs, behind the counters, were much easier to get into, just crack the code, _once_, and you were in. Those morons were probably already on the top floor finishing up. He was starting to wish he had told Plio about the robbery, it wasn't turning out as exciting as he would have hoped. He wondered just how long it would take her to take out the ten on the floors above them. At that moment there came a loud crash from the main floor, like someone being thrown around.

"What the hell was that?!" Penoso demanded when he stormed out of the private room. "We mustn't draw attention to ourselves!" Jack grabbed hold of the man as he tried to rush by him and pulled him back.

"Chillax, dude, I'll take care of it."

"You better take care of it!" he shouted, throwing his arm up in the air in the direction of the elevator. "If we get caught, it will set us back by at least a week!"

"Alright, alright, I got it," Jack assured the overly stressed man, "now hold on, I'll be right back." Jack quickly ran to the stairs, not wanting to wait for the elevator, and raced to the first floor. Whoever it was was going to get a serious beat down. Unless that was them getting thrown around. Bursting through the door, he ran into the oversized lobby and stopped dead in his tracts. Oh, she was good alright.

"There you are!" she hollered with pretend anger. "You know, I lost three retarded friends today! One at McDonald's, one at Wal-Mart, and I was like 'Where the fuck are you?!' Damnit! I told you to hold hands!" Jack grinned furtively.

"Nice."

"Thanks."

"You know, I was beginning to wonder when you were going to get here. I was starting to get bored."

"Oh, well, we wouldn't want that, now would we?" she returned his grin but deep within she felt a disappointment that Jack would keep a simple robbery from her…but maybe it wasn't as simple as she thought. BD looked around the room, calculating all of her surroundings. There were ten goons all ready to attack again, prepared to fight until they were dead, and she was on her own. Four or five was the most she'd ever really fought at once with. And most were around her size, but these guys were larger, much larger. Not to mention without mercy. They would kill her the moment they got the chance.

Normally she wouldn't have been so scared at a time like this, because normally she would be facing Jack, or had him at her side, but not now. Not today. For today he had to stand opposite her, he had to act like the enemy he was meant to be. Question was, was he going to help in attacking her or was he going to kick back and watch. Oh, she hoped it'd be the latter of the two, because to convince them he was 'on their side' they would have to give it their all and there was no way in hell she'd want to face him and all his strength.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" came the Italian's loud, commanding voice. "Get rid of her!" Without missing a beat or giving it a second thought, the ten men, who had already tackled with her, and the five from down in the vault room began to encircle her. As BD counted the number of men surrounding her, and figured out her odds of defeating them when she was already exhausted from her rumble with Lithe, she glanced over at her secret lover. Her eyes met his and he stared back, a mixture of sorrow and curiosity plastered across his face. She suddenly felt an unexpected jolt of confidence and strength, and, unconsciously, shifted into a defensive position.

Grinning excitedly and a bit insanely, and looking directly at Jack, she cracked her long black whip, "Just like a circus."

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Okay, there you have it. Chapter fifteen. Damn…I can't believe it. DUDE! Anyways, so, it was BD who came to Bre's rescue! (BTW: BD _will_ have a new name by the end of the story!) And damn that Charlie! Gawd, she's so annoying! I hope something happens to her. HAHA Lithe got beat up by both BD AND Jack! That's great.

I plan to have a new chapter up in a couple of weeks…hopefully, I have a paper to write for school, but that shouldn't take too long. Oh, and in the next two to three chapters Jack and Plio will have their "scene"…you know…their "naughty scene." If you still don't get it…I mean sex. THERE I SAID IT! So yeah, for those waiting for that, it's coming. YAY!

Okay, its one in the morning and I've got to go to sleep. So…UNTIL NEXT TIME!

Luv y'all!

Dyno


	16. BloodThe Evil Within

Let me check……………(lots of dots just for NoRA)………Nope, still don't own Batman…damnit.

Anyways…GAWD I KNOW! IT'S BEEN TWO MONTHS! But I got writer's block and had to finish school, and just crap, that's all it was, crap. But I'm back and I'm so so soooo sorry for the delay. I'm going to try to do better with what little time I have before school starts. I want to finish this story within the next five to ten chapters, hopefully not the latter cuz I want to start the sequel!! YES! THERE WILL BE A SEQUEL!! So…yeah…woot woot y'all! There will also be a new villain! Or villainess…Ooooo.

Anywho, I feel the need to warn you that this chapter does contain a death or two…or more…and it is kinda gory, but not too gory, I wanted everyone to be able to read it, but just as a heads up. Oh, and I learned something while writing this…I'm not the very best writer when it comes to fight scenes…SO, if they do something during the fight that just doesn't make sense or whatever, just let me know in a review and I will try to explain it better!!

And pretty, pretty, preeeetty please Read and Review. I know it can be bothersome and I don't blame you if you don't want to, but it's just nice when you get depressed about or frustrated with your story and you just want to quick, to have someone tell you that it's awesome or whatever and make you feel good. You know? Just let me know what you think! PLEASE AND THANK YOU!

Now on with chapter 16!

**Chapter 16: Blood…The Evil Within**

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"Bre…_Bre_...BRE…you have to calm down, sweetheart." Selina's voice was demanding yet still soothing to the frantic teen on the other end of the receiver, and her patience was wearing. "Now tell me again, what happened?..._Attacked_?...By who?...Lithe?...Never heard of her…she works for who…Penoso—PENOSO!" The phone dropped slightly from the woman's face, her heart freefalling into the pit of her stomach. A series of images flashed through her mind: blood, carnage, mayhem, the screams from victims of vicious mental and physical torture. And the eyes, the glowing green eyes that would haunt her for the rest of her life. "Bre…are you _sure_ that it is Penoso that they are involved with? Penoso Soffrire?" The tears swelled up in her eyes, but she did not allow her fear to be heard. "Alright, sweetie. Don't worry, we'll find them. I promise." But her promise was hallow, for there was no assurance that they'd find them safe and sound…not with _him_. She prayed Jack would keep her baby safe, in her heart she feared, and somehow knew, he was drifting further and further from them in a sea of darkness of which he could not be saved…

.

"You know, I always knew one day you'd be surrounded by a bunch of other clowns," the two teens smiled humorously, "just didn't think they'd be this butt-ass ugly." One of the goons made a strange sound that could've be taken as a growl of some sort and lunged for the heroine. The air cracked and the long, black whip wrapped tightly, and painfully, around the man's neck. Jack's crooked smile grew as he watched, '_That's kinda hot.'_ The man gasped and clawed at the whip but it would not release. Another lackey came at her from behind and she quickly yanked the weapon down—freeing the first—and then around before catching the asshole across the face. He cried out and fell to the floor as a small pool of blood began to form beneath his face.

It happened in slow-motion. All at once the large group of large men jumped her together. Squeezing the handle of the whip, BD braced herself and waited. The moment the shitfaces were close enough she rapidly began to swirl the painful accessory around and around in a whirlwind like fashion. Hitting most, stunning them for a brief second, she went on to attack those individually that she missed. Wrapping the black leather around one's neck, as she had done to the first, she held him in place and kicked another from behind in the jaw.

Another came from the side and attempted to clip her in the side of her head with their fist but she pulled her captive forward and he caught the attack instead—something she was glad of, she was sure she had heard something break. Quickly back flipping through the air, she caused two more goons to collide into one another with a sickening thud. Flip after kick after hit, she took the lackeys out one by one, leaving a bloody mess surrounding her. Not a single one of them managed to lay a hand on her, something that ate at the fiery-redhead. Some of the men refused to give up, which she couldn't help but admire, but their futile attempts were vanquished with simplicity. Grabbing one by his arm, she flipped him 180 degrees onto his back. One of the largest grasped her from behind and wrapped his arms around her chest, pinning her arms down and constricting the air out of her. Jack took a slight step forward, his facial expression never changing, but his nearly nonexistent movement did not go unnoticed.

"What's wrong, _Jacky_?" Lithe called out, making sure her question was heard by the heroine. BD stopped at the sound of the psycho's voice. Her eyes went to Jack's, who's locked onto hers. Panic overwhelmed both, though they dared not show it. "Perhaps if she was to get a little more mean …more bloody…" Plio, ignoring the bitch, pulled and pulled at the overly muscular arms, but it was no use. Closing her eyes she prepared for the sickening sound that was to come, and with all her might she dug her armored, spiked fists into the sides of the man's thighs. She heard one of the bones pop out of place before his hands went limp and he collapsed to the floor. Free of his hold she kicked him away, using him as leverage to flip backwards into the air and onto another's shoulders. Without missing a beat she continued to fall back and had the current goon face down on the floor. Jumping up onto her hands she booted two more in the jaw and locked onto a smaller one's neck with her legs. Spinning her body while hanging upside down, she managed to send him flying as well.

"BD!" Jack shouted before he could realize what had escaped his lips, let alone stop himself. BD spun around just in time to dodge out of the way of a random, and rather frighteningly large, hunting knife. Grasping his wrist, she spun once more so that her back was nearly against his chest. With her arm around his, and her hand still holding tightly, she jerked it upward as hard as she could. She heard another snap; God, it was such a repulsive sound. He cried out like the previous had done earlier and she snatched the knife away. Without thinking she dung the blade deep into the misguided lackey's shoulder, knowing were to do so, so she would not hit an artery. As she pulled the weapon out, it was as if the world slowed down and a hush fell over the night. Her breathing was the only sound she heard, as she stared in horror. Had she truly done was she did? The crimson liquid dripped from the shining metal to the floor with an over dramatized "ploosh."

As she looked around the room she quickly decided that there was no way she would break her one rule, but, then again, cutting and killing were two _very _different things. Giving the handle of the knife a good squeeze, her eyes met Jack's and she gave him a small smile and the world began to move again…hastily. Out of nowhere she found herself completely surround yet again. Knowing exactly what to do, she waited until they were just close enough—the idiots were coming upon her swiftly—and, leaning back so her spine was parallel with the floor, swung her arm out in a circular fashion, slicing each one deeply across the chest. Dropping the weapon while simultaneously spinning sideways through the air then down to her hands, she smacked each in the temple with whatever strength she had left. The men staggered back and forth before they all fell to their knees in sudden and unexpected pain.

Someone started clapping…

"Well…" BD's head whipped to her left and her eyes locked onto the cynical and sinister smile that was Lithe. "I have to admit, that was very good, BD, you're a lot better than I'd ever imagine you'd be." She sounded sincerely surprised and somewhat…excited. "Not only did you take me on in a tiring battle, but you took these losers on in addition, and did quite a number on them." BD beamed with self satisfaction at her handy work.

"What? You were tired after our fight? Weak." Lithe's face fell in annoyance. "See, I can be 'bloody mean' too." The woman made a '_huh_' like sound, like a small, mocking laugh while nonchalantly walking to the one dude that had managed to be knocked unconscious during the "battle roya"l and, kneeling down beside him, cradled his head in her arms.

"My dear, sweet, innocent, naïve BD, let me assure you," BD's scream of terror and agony was thankfully muffled by her hands—which were now covering her mouth—the blade had appeared out of nowhere and slid without mercy across the poor man's throat, "you don't know the meaning of the term." A single tear fell from her puffy, tired, fearful, blue eye as she watched the blood squirt and pour from the mortal wound.

"HE WAS DEFENSELESS YOU PSYCHOTIC FREAK!" BD shrilled, her face now stained with tears.

"Hmm," now grinning more insanely than BD ever thought was possible, the woman ran her tongue up her bloody forearm, and then turned to leer at her opponent, "that's the difference between _mean_ and _evil_." BD's breathing was rapid and shallow, her fear taking over her, leaving her nearly petrified. She was crazy. Genuine insanity. Not even the Joker was that mad. "Murder tastes so good," still sneering, the wicked henchwoman pointed her deadly blade at the overly exhausted teen. "Now it's your turn." But before Lithe could take a single step, Jack was behind his nearly broken love, and, without warning, hit her just right so that she would pass out harmlessly. _'Jaaack…'_ his grinning face was the last thing she saw before her mind was swallowed by blackness.

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING, LITHE?! I SAID I WANTED A CLEAN HEIST!" The sudden and unexpected sound of the Italian's demanding and extremely enraged voiced had the second in command and the prince jumping in surprise. "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED HERE?!"

"She did it, my love," she pointed to the limp body in Jack's arms.

"Oh yeah, that's childish," the clown barked. "You're the one that slit the dude's throat just to psych BD out!"

"OH GOD!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air and then sliding them down her face in irritation. "I HATE THAT FUCKING NAME! IT SUCKS!"

"It's just because the author couldn't think of a good enough name in the beginning, but she's going to change it!"

"What the fuck are you _talking _about, you freakazoid?!"

"YOU! Ruining your boss's chance at ever achieving a perfect…uh…_achievement_… YOU KNOW WHAT I'M TRYING TO SAY, DAMNIT!" One could swear they had started to growl at each other.

"I am growing immensely tired of your bickering," his voice wasn't very loud, but still, a silence instantly shrouded the room. "I promise if it does not stop, the both of you will be wishing to die, for Hell will seem more desirable." He turned is attention directly to his bloodthirsty assistant. "And you, I am growing especially tired of your moronic outbursts and temper tantrums. I do not want to hear another sound escape your lips for the remainder of the time we are here. Do you understand me?" She simply nodded. "Good. Now, Lithe, come with me, I shall call base have them send more men over…and when they get here," he added as an afterthought, "you'll help them clean up this mess, Lithe." Doing as told, she said not a single word. Penoso, suddenly remembering the unconscious heroine, said, "Do something about her, I don't care what, just get her out of here. I don't want her waking up and attempting to foil our plans yet again."

Jack nodded and lifted his nearly lifeless girlfriend off the ground; he needed to get her home. Why did she have to come? He didn't want her involved in any of this. He took her, carrying her as close to him as possible without looking suspicious, out the back of the bank and into an abandoned alley. Making sure the coast was clear he strode across the pavement to an old car, blocked from view of the busy streets by a wall of junk stacked in front of it.

"Forgive me P.," he whispered to her as he laid her in the back seat. The sight of her bruised and battered face brought tears to his eyes. Gently he brushed his fingers down her cheek. How did they get into this mess? It wasn't that long ago that things were normal, happy even. He laughed silently to himself, maybe this was the universe's way of telling them they shouldn't be together. His eyes moved to overlook her body; she looked like shit. But even when looking like shit, she was still the most beautiful creature that had ever walked this unworthy planet. Why did things have to be this way? Why couldn't he just live a happy life? He'd never done anything _that _evil before, so why couldn't _he_ be allowed to live in peace, when so many other ruthless people could?

Come to think of it, none of this shit—the diamond heist, the mugging, his anger, his new just about uncontrollable lust for chaos—started until that freak showed up…but he didn't have anything to do with it. Damnit, there it was again! Some force keeping him from thinking ill of or blaming anything on the Italian. It was like he wanted to, but he just couldn't… "I don't think I've given as much thought about this guy as I should have. Maybe it's time I paid a visit to Mr. Wayne…" he looked down again at Plio's filth coated face and his own face contorted into an wicked little smirk, "…then again, that pathetic old man will only just get in the way of my fun. And if he does that, I'll have to kill him." Yes, he would kill the elder Waynes, he had to, but not Plio, because when all this was over with, he and her would finally get to be together, happily. A solitary tear ran down his cheek as he smiled insanely at the beauty before him. Yes. That is what he wanted, and that was what he was going to get. Happiness with the woman he loved…by all means necessary. With one last look, he shut the door to the car and turned to walk away. As he approached the building Jack felt his heart sink, for he knew their future held no heavenly dream for them, but only a hellish nightmare waiting to tear them apart.

"Jack, my boy!" Penoso greeted him as if it'd been years since they'd last seen one another. It took the teen back for a moment when he noticed the rather large purple spot on Lithe's face, _'I see he got his frustration out…'_ Something told him there was probably an equally visible and painful mark on his, though he couldn't see the man's face. "Are you ready to finish our job here?" Jack looked around the room; how long had he been outside? The spot on the floor had been cleaned, the wounded, and dead, taken away, and now there were dozens of men carrying bags of money from every which way.

"Doesn't really look like you need my help." Penoso took hold of the boy and pulled him forward so that his arm was draped over both his shoulders.

"My dear boy, we need all the help we can get. Security guards will be arriving in about a few hours to do a quick inspection. Sadly I had not learned of this until but a moment ago. So we must hurry. Come—" Jack pulled away as the villain began to walk towards the elevator. The clown prince stared at the foreigner with murderous eyes. "Jack?"

"I want you to be perfectly honest with me."

"Always." It was a lie, but he didn't press.

"Are you sure, one hundred percent sure, that this diabolical plan of yours to do what-the-hell-ever will actually work?" If he was going to give up a blissful life with Plio, he wanted to make damn well sure it was for a good ass reason.

"But of course…if everyone does as I say." They were both silent for a moment as if reading each other before Penoso had had enough and smiled sincerely, waving his young apprentice forward. "Now enough of this nonsense, come, let us get to work." Jack smiled wearily, still not fully trusting the man, but his curiosity was far too strong for him to turn away. Ignoring the warning in the back of his head, he entered the elevator, moving to the back to stand behind the two of them. It took every ounce of his strength not to scream or make the slightest move when he suddenly saw the pile of bloody bodies—each had their throats slit wide open—gathered in the center of the floor. Something that had not been there a moment before.

Jack sank back against the cold metal wall of the elevator, breathing heavily, silently, while his leader and that wrench discussed something not of his interest. What kind of a Hellish nightmare was this? Could what he have seen been just a hallucination? Or could it have been for real? He prayed for it not to be the latter, though he knew it was. But how? Could there have been a telepath or an illusionist within Penoso's little group? Jack's eyes quickly shifted back and forth between the two before him; could it have been one of them? _'No, that'd be too obvious and the readers would probably want something more obscure than that…or maybe it's because of that fact that one of these two being the mindbender would be more plausible…What? I don't know.'_

"Jack?" Penoso questioned the boy's wellness having noticed his seemingly random head shaking. "Are you alright?"

"Huh? Oh…no, I'm fine, just tired. Haven't been sleeping very well lately."

"Ah, well, after we are done here, I want you to go straight home and get to bed. You cannot function properly without rest, and that can lead to performance problems." Jack rolled his eyes, but, like always, said nothing. Some rest probably could do him some good. The doors opened and the trio was immediately greeted by the hellos and nods of at least thirty men. Jack smiled and, quickly taking hold of the opportune moment, said, "Bip bip bip, people, let's get back to work, now!" he chuckled giddily to himself, he'd always wanted to say that.

"You heard the boy," Penoso announced to the crowd of glaring eyes all the while smiling proudly for the young teen, "get back to work." Grudgingly they obeyed. "We only have a few hours, Jack, before the first guard comes back for his inspection. Are you up to the task?" Jack stretched his arms forward, cracking his intertwined fingers, smirking. "Then let us, as you say, get to it." They nodded in agreement...Lithe rolled her pretty green eyes and pushed her way between the two. "I'd stay away from her, Jack, for the remainder of the night." Again they smiled.

A few hours had not been enough, not nearly. Even with that many men, that large of a quantity of money would take an even considerably larger amount of time to remove. But they had been so close to being done. They only had a couple hundred million more dollars to go and they'd have been home free. But they just weren't quick enough. If only the poor bastard had been a little late, maybe a little less thorough, this wouldn't have happened. Yes, it was his fault, at least that's what he'd keep telling himself. He shouldn't feel so bad about it, the guy had to have done _something_ in his life that would have been bad for him to deserve this, right? After all, this was Gotham City, and there wasn't an innocent person for a hundred miles in any direction. The poor bloke hadn't even done anything wrong that night, he'd just been in the wrong place at the wrong time, but he was going to call the police and ruin everything. He couldn't let that happen. But…_he_ didn't even know what 'everything' was, what the point of it all was. All he did know was that he _had_ to make sure Penoso succeeded in all his plans…no matter what.

The hunting knife that had been used by the heroine earlier now hung in the Clown Prince of Crime's hand, both drenched and dripping with blood. His puffy eyes and cheeks were stained with flowing tears as he stared on at the lifeless body of the bank's security guard. Had he slit his throat? Or stabbed him? Jack couldn't even recall, but he did remember the man's face; a face that would forever be burned into his mind. The man lay motionless in a pool of blood that was slowly growing, his face turned, staring at Jack with eyes that asked "Why?" Jack had known this man, sort of, his name was Jerry Woods. He was a genuine, good guy, someone you wanted to be friends with, even Jack. Whenever Jerry was at the bank when Jack decided to rob it, he would always tell him he understood why and that he had faith the boy would overcome his need for chaos and be the man he wanted to be. Once, when he had beaten the snot out of these two assholes who were about to hold up the bank—God how he hated petty thieves—Jerry was the only one that defended him when the cops showed up, even though he knew Jack would just say he did it so _he_ could rob it later. Jerry was _his_ friend, and he cut his life short, he hadn't even made it to thirty. It wasn't fair…

The cloaked lackeys rushed by him with bags of money as they hurried to finished what they'd come there to do, none even bothering to give the corpse a second glance. Why should they've? He wasn't their problem. The blade dropped to the tile floor below it with a loud _CLANK_. What had he done? Jack's breathing sped up and became brisk and unbalanced. "This isn't me…" he whispered to himself, "…this isn't me at all. I don't do this…I don't…I don't mur…" he couldn't even get the dreadful word out. "Oh God…I killed my friend…" he breathed, fighting back tears, as a thought struck him hard, "…I'm just…like my dad…a monster" with that thought in his mind, Jack went into a full-blown meltdown and bolted from the room and out of the bank, not exactly knowing where he was going. Giving the car a sorrowful look, he disappeared into the night.

"Poor kid," Lithe's velvet voice murmured back in the vault room as she watched him sprint away in terror. Stepping over to where the boy had been standing, she squatted down and grasped the falling knife, swinging between her thumb and forefinger like a pendulum. "Who knew murder would be so hard on him," the words flowed with no hint of actual sorrow or concern but were filled with a venomous humor. "But I do have to say," she continued and forcefully jammed the blade into the floor next to the fallen man's face, "he handled it better than I thought he would." The Italian stepped up behind his beloved as she stood and snaked his arms around her waist. Pulling her close, he kissed her head tenderly. "The kid shouldn't feel too bad. This guy had no lover, no children, and no immediate family anywhere in the state. He was a nobody. But if he can't get over the death of someone as insignificant as this asshole, even if he was a friend, than how do you expect him to be a great asset to us later on?"

"Do not fret. He'll learn to enjoy it, I'm quite sure. It won't take too much longer, my dear, for the evil within him to fully surface. And when that time comes, he will be an unstoppable force." Lithe smiled from ear to ear, perhaps her and the little shit would get along much better once they were on the same level of insanity. "Now, do you have it ready?"

"Uh-huh."

"Good," he kissed her again, "Let us go." The two quietly slipped out of the room, walking hand in hand through the oversized bank. As they passed the pile of bodies being removed one by one from the lobby—the men that could not take down the _one _heroine had to be done away with, their fate unbeknownst to the other lackeys—Lithe squeezed her man's hand tighter.

"You think he saw the bodies?" There was the slightest hint of worry in her voice; Penoso eyed her as if she were some ignorant child asking the silliest of questions. "I mean, if he did, if he gets the idea we may be deceiving him—"

"He sees what I want him to see," he said abruptly, "and all he saw was a clean room."

"But what if the illusion…fell?" Penoso made a noise that sounded like something between a snort and a grunt. A mixture of humor and bother.

"He would have to be some kind of a super genius to break through my illusion; therefore that would be impossible." _'Maybe not…he's smarter than we thought.' _She turned her head to get one last glance before they exited through the door that would lead them to the abandoned car. Continuing on alone, Lithe all but skipped to the heap of junk and flung the door open. She looked down at the heroine they called BD—she wanted to shoot the bitch every time someone said her name she hated it so much—and smiled with satisfaction.

"Awww, the poor thing. Knocked the fuck out by the one she loves…", she climbed into the car so she could look her enemy in her battered face, "he might have done it to save you this time, but I promise," she brushed a few strands of hair from Plio's face lovingly, mockingly, "next time it'll be to kill you. And I'll enjoy watching that." Leaning down she spoke softly and deadly, "You can't save him anymore."

"Lithe!" she heard her lover and commander call out in irritation. Sighing, she sat up and dug into one of her pockets, pulling out a small syringe.

"I have no idea what the hell is in this shit, girl, but the boss says it'll keep you out for a good twenty four hours. Heh, and one day is all that poor boy needs without you to fully reach his potential, and become a merciless killer." With more force than necessary she jabbed the long needle into the teen's leg, intoxicating her with the drug. "Nothing personal, Cherie, but we can't have you in the way." Crawling out, she shut the door back and returned to her waiting 'master.' "And now?"

"Now we wait, and let our future unravel."

.

He'd been running and wondering around the city for almost five hours now, though it had seemed like forever. He still wasn't sure where he was going, but that didn't matter. He needed to clear his head, needed to calm down and recollect his thoughts. He listened to the sound of his footfalls, the _pat pat pat _the balls of his feet made as he ran. He listened to the sound of the wind as it blew softly around him. The cool morning air was crisp and it chilled his lungs as he breathed deeply. Finally he stopped, arriving at the docks near his home and stared out at the murky water. His reflection showed him a grotesque image, a person he no longer recognized. His red stained fingers gently brushed his cheek, smearing the splatter of blood.

'_What's wrong with me? How did the night go so wrong?'_ he asked himself for the umpteenth time that night. How'd they go from a simple bank robbery—simple being an understatement—to some kind of a blood bath? Half of which he couldn't really remember. He'd never murdered anyone before, and he had never planned to, at least not in cold blood. He wasn't sure how much longer he could keep this up, pretending to go along with Penoso and his gang. Five days he'd known the bastard, five, and it already seemed like an eternity. _'I meet the fucker Sunday morning and by Thursday morning I've committed murder for him...'_ "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH ME?!" he shouted to the world, expecting and receiving no answer.

A thought suddenly came to him, a memory really. The memory of a man, the man he nearly beat to death with a Louisville Slugger. Oh how his stomach churned at the vivid visions of the man's battered and bloody body. He still couldn't remember why he'd done it, what had made him do it. Well, he knew why: he'd gotten angry. But _why_ did he get so angry so easily? The guy had no chance, but that had apparently not mattered. He needed to know what happened. He needed to know what had caused him to lose his mind. He had to go see the guy. Once again he took off running.

"Jackendaboks! Where have you been?!" Harley Quinn rushed to her son with her arms held wide but stopped just short with a gasp of horror. "Baby what happened? It's nearly six in the morning! Where have you been? You're covered in…" she breathed the words as she fearfully eyed the blood and the distant look in the young clown's yellow eyes. She reached out to cup the side of his sadden face, "Sweetie-pie, what—"

"It's nothing mom, seriously. I'll tell you about it later. I've got somewhere to go so just leave me the hell alone." His voice was cold as he pushed her hand away and hurried past her. That wasn't her son, he never spoke to her in such a way. Something was terribly wrong with him and she was sure she knew what.

"Penoso…" she growled with a mother's fury. If that fucker did _anything_ to hurt her son in _any_ way, physically, emotionally, mentally, she'd rip him limb from limb herself. Her body shook from head to toe with fury. He had no right showing his disgusting face in this city, he was a monster—and she knew a thing or two about monsters, she was, after all, married to Gotham's oldest monster—and should be done away with in the most painful and torturous way possible. Did he really think his ridiculous plan was going to work this time when it failed so damn miserably last time…but had he really failed? Sure, he was beaten to near death, and driven out of the city by heroes and villains alike—it was an amazing sight to see, good and evil fighting for the same goal—and the last she had heard he was locked away in a prison in Italy, but when you add up the casualties… Penoso was a man with no soul, no care, no pain, a man willing to do anything to achieve what he desired. Yes, _every_ villain said that, but he actually meant it. When Penoso departed from Gotham City, it was left in a state that they were still recovering from nearly twenty years later. So much blood, so much carnage, a place that could very likely resemble Hell itself. She never told a soul, not even Ivy, but Mr. J himself even wept when the morning sun showed the aftermath of the bloodbath. It was a time no one wished to return to.

"Morning." Harley jumped, squealing, as she whirled around to meet the man she called her husband. She smiled at his tired, overworked expression; he'd been working rather hard on some project lately, though they both knew he was far too old now to be going off playing pranks on the city anymore.

"Well, lookie who came up to get a bit of sun." He shot her a deadly glare, but the bags under his eyes took a bit of the edge away from. "Mr. J I'm worried about our poor Jackendaboks." She wasn't going to waste time making small talk or contemplating on whether or not she should say something, their baby needed their help.

"Whatever trouble the boy's in, he can get the hell out himself." Her face and eyes fell; why must he hate his son so much?

"But…"

"I will not help him. He has to learn to fend for himself and become a man like his—"

"Like his _what_? Like his _father_? Yes, well too bad he can't, since he has none…because you are none." He eyes overflowed with an uncontrollable anger, consuming Harley in fear to her very core, but she stood her ground. "It's Penoso…" she said coldly, her voice forceful. The Joker's face softened with dread, his eyes wide, and he turned his head to look away before completely turning his back to his wife "…he has our boy in his control, wrapped up in whatever he is planning and you know it will be bad…for all of us. Have you forgotten what he did the last time he was here?" For a moment the original Clown Prince of Crime was silent, his mind trying to understand what she was saying. Was his son really in with the man he himself had fought so hard to rid Gotham of?

"I have not forgotten Harley, but if the boy has gotten in deep with someone like that, than he deserves whatever hell fate deals him—"

"JACK!" Her sudden outburst had the clown completely taken back, never, not once had she ever used his real name, the name whence their son was named for. Jack Napier turned his head ever so slightly, though still not directly looking at her. "Help…your son." It was a demand, something she never did when it came to her husband, for she knew a beating would follow. But she no longer cared; she was done being a scared little housewife. The Joker, though he wanted to convince himself he did not care, could not deny the fear in his heart as he stared up the staircase, _'My son, what have you gotten yourself in to?'_

.

"Can I help you?" The nurse behind the counter smiled sweetly at the young man on the opposite side, his black hair stuck to his face from the morning dew and his eyes flowing with irritation. Jack had planned on being there at Gotham General way before the flow of obnoxious and unwelcomed visitors arrived, but soon after he had spent an hour in the shower trying to rid his body of the sticky, crimson substance and its stench, he had managed to accidently pass out on his bed for another four hours. Then that dreadful make-up…_'Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful to have that shit, but I wonder if they could have possibly made it any more difficult to put on. I have so much respect for women, I really do…'_ "Who are you looking for?"

"Um…Mr. Thomas McGore…he's my uncle." He smiled as she did and waited patiently, _'McGore…cute…play on words…'_

"Ah yes, he is in room 494. But he's not doing very well, nor is he quite himself. That bastard did a real number on him." She meant him and his gut began to churn. "Everybody's saying Jackendaboks did it, that he's gone mad and is becoming just like his father," how he wanted to shut her up, "but to be honest, I don't believe it. I mean, I know he's the son of the Joker and everything, but something in my gut is telling me he didn't do it. You know?" Well that'd been unexpected. Maybe he had more fans than he'd thought.

"Yeah," he said, feeling slightly better, "I'm thinking the same…Thanks." Giving her a nod he headed down the long white hallway. Reaching the room he checked to make sure no one was in there, and slipped inside. Thomas McGore was lying strapped to his bed by the contraptions holding his four broken limbs, with his eyes glued to the television, though he was not watching it. He was a ghastly sight to see, his swollen face nearly swallowed his puffy eyes, and his skin was a mixture of peach, purple, black, and blue. He wanted to throw up. _He_ had done this? Why? Had he even had a reason? Had it just been for fun? Oh God…what had he become?

"Who are you?" Jack smiled innocently and sat down beside the man.

"I'm John, I'm a journalism major at the local university and I wanted to interview you for an article I'm writing for class, but I figured when I got here that you'd probably already had had enough of people like me." He grunted in agreement. "Soooo I thought I'd just come and listen. Everyone needs someone who will just listen. Do you mind? I'd really like to hear?" The man said nothing at first, trying to decide whether or not the lad was lying, but something in his eyes ensured his honesty. So Thomas began his story:

"I hadn't done anything wrong," that stung… "my bike had broken down and I was trying to figure out how to fix it. It wasn't even a bad part of the city. But there I was…alone, when _he_ showed up."

"Jackendaboks."

"Yeah. I almost bolted outta there, but he assured me he only wanted to help…so I let him. Oh why did I let him?"

"Probably thought you didn't have a choice." The clown in disguise was more or less talking to himself, as he replayed that night in his head for the millionth time. "I bet you were so scared," the man nodded. "You probably thought if you ran he'd kill you, so you just waited, watching, for the moment when he'd attack, right?" The man did not reply, only eyed the boy curiously. "He seemed so nice and you began to wonder how someone like him could be seen as a villain let alone the Joker's kid. And at the very moment you truly trusted him, he struck." Thomas whimpered at the memory, the insane look in Jack's eyes. "It was with a wrench right?" again, no reply. "Oh I'm sorry. I didn't mean to go off like that, I said I'd listen. Please continue." Jack's smile sent chills down Thomas's spine but he felt compelled to continue.

"He grabbed me by the throat, I screamed for him to let go, he didn't and no one heard, or couldn't hear…hell, they probably didn't care…no one in this city does." Jack couldn't agree with him more. The people in this forsaken city were cold and unworthy of saving, yet they're saved time and time again. It seemed so pointless. If someone was a bad person or at least not a good person, they didn't deserve saving, they deserved whatever discomfort they received. "I knew the moment I looked in his eyes I was going to die. I just prayed it would be quick, but I knew it wouldn't be…especially when he raised that wrench. _'Now…let's have some fun,'_ he had said to me, and then struck me. I didn't even know what had happened at first. It took a second or two for me to feel the pain, the agony. I think I even blacked out for a moment…God it hurt so bad. I could have sworn half of my face was gone." A strange feeling started to build up in the clown's gut; was he getting a thrill out of listening to this? "Once I was down on the ground, he laughed and said he might end up enjoying it and then kicked in my ribs…and then kicked me again." Thomas's breathing became heavy with anxiety. "He brought his foot down hard on me and broke several of my ribs, all the while laughing hysterically. That's when he went and got the…the bat." Jack waited but Thomas said nothing more.

"What happened?!" That was where his memory of the notorious attack seemed to vanish. He needed to know what he had done, what caused him to suddenly become the type of person he swore never to be…a villain. "After he got the Louisville Slugger, what happened?"

"How'd you know it was a Slugger?"

"Read it in the papers." Thomas didn't believe him, but he was too scared to say it, so he just continued.

"I tried to crawl away," he finally continued, struggling to get the memory out, "'tried' being the operative word. It just hurt so much to move, my cheek felt like it weighed a thousand pounds and every time I took a breath it felt like my ribs were going to puncture my lungs." He swallowed, "As I reached out to pull myself along the sidewalk, I heard him say, _'Now who told you, you could leave?'_ and then he swung the bat down as hard as he could on my forearm…both my arms…oh God, the sound it made when the bones were crushed…" Thomas gritted his teeth, what little he had left, most had been knocked out by the wrench, and fought as hard as he could to keep himself from crying, "I cried out again and again and begged him to stop but he wouldn't…he just laughed…Then he broke my legs. By then I really couldn't feel anymore. I remember crying out, but I think it was because I felt the impact and heard the crunch but I felt no pain. He punched me few times I the face after that, but I was in a daze for most of it. The whole time he was saying a whole lotta shit, but I don't really remember. But what I remember the most was…" Again he fell silent.

"What?" Jack was on the edge of his seat now; why was he getting so damn excited? "What? What do you remember the most?" Thomas was too afraid to go on, afraid of the memory. Jack nearly jumped from his chair, wanting to force it out of the man, even if that meant resorting to another beating. "What…was it, Thomas?"

"His eyes…" the clown fell back into the chair in awe.

"His eyes?" the disappointment in Jack's voice was all too obvious. "Really?"

"Yes…those eyes," Thomas's own eyes began to swell even more with tears, "those glowing eyes of his, they were terrifying." Jack cocked his head in confusion. His eyes? His glowing eyes? Really? "Every time I close my own eyes I see his and I just want to die." The tears broke free and flowed hotly down his face. Jack watched in wonder. He had no idea he was capable of doing this to someone.

"Thomas…Thooomas…HEY!" Thomas gasped, still crying and looked up at the annoyed 'journalism major.' "What happened after that?"

"He…took my bike…and said…something…" the poor guy was sobbing and Jack was quickly growing impatient.

"What was it?"

"I don't know, it sounded odd…umm…rasie? Gazie? I'm…not sure." Jack rolled his eyes, _'Great…' _ "He had promised me he wouldn't kill me, because that wouldn't be fun…I never thought he would ever do something like this. Jackendaboks never hurt anyone for no given reason at all. I pray that someone forced him to do it. But I doubt it. He's a cold blooded monster," Jack, who'd completely zoned out, lost in his own thoughts, snapped his head up with eyes burning in rage, "a monster just like his—" Jack was at the man's bedside with his hand planted firmly over Thomas's mouth. The man's eyes widened with extreme terror.

"Don't…don't you EVER say that. I'm _nothing_ like my father. GOT IT?!" Thomas began to hyperventilate as he realized the boy he'd been speaking to had been his attacker all along. The many machines hooked to him went haywire and screeched in alert as numbers began to rise and fall rapidly. Jack could hear the nurses coming down the hallway and released the now unconscious man, backing up and slipping out as the room began to fill up. Jack stormed through the halls, taking the steps to bypass as many people as he could, and out of the hospital. _'What the fuck was that dumbass talking about?'_ Jack trudged across the hospital courtyard and down the sidewalk, thinking back on what he'd been told. Had he really been so ruthless? Why had beating that guy to an inch of death and killing the security guard, been so damn easy for him? The idea that it was, was starting to even scare him. But what was got to him the most was that after everything Jack had done to Thomas McGore, it was his _eyes_ that he remembered the most. His glowing eyes—what?

Jack stopped on a dime, causing several people to almost run into him. _'My glowing eyes? Glowing? I don't have glowing eyes…' _Then he remembered something else…that word…that 'odd,' as he had put it, word. _'What was it? Rasie? Gazie?'_ "Damnit," he mumbled to himself and thought hard. _'He said it when he was leaving…what would one say as they were leaving?'_ then it hit him, _'_**_Grazie! He meant grazie!_** _But…that's thanks…in Italian. Why would I be speaking Italian?_" That made no sense at all. He would've just said thanks in English, it's not like he was Pen—Penoso? "Did he make me do this? Why? How?" If he had made him do it, did he also make him kill the guard? Suddenly, very suddenly and out of the blue, he got the strangest urge to do something…something evil. Something evil to someone good. But what and to who? There had to be someone in his head. But before they had complete control, while he had a bit of sanity left, he whipped out his phone and began dialing.

"Hello?" It was Bruce Wayne. Jack began to speak very quickly.

"Penoso is planning on taking control of Gotham, I'm not sure how yet. They…we, robbed a bank last night, there was a casualty, but I'm sure you've already heard all about it. Plio's safe and I'm sure will be home, if she's not already there, shortly. I can't tell you when or even if I'll give you information on Penoso again. I feel my mind slipping and I don't know how much longer I will be myself." He took a deep breath, "I used to strive to be a decent person, Mr. Wayne, even though I liked to cause trouble but I can no longer deny what I truly desire, and that's chaos. Chaos, mayhem, panic, pandemonium, bedlam, and everything else that goes along. I might just very well become a major problem for you, so be prepared." His phone buzzed vigorously and he pulled it from his ear hearing Bruce calling out his name and growing angry. Jacked switched the phone to speaker.

"JACK! ANSWER ME! WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!"

"Sorry Mr. Wayne. I've got to go have some…Jokerish fun," he said with a smile and cut the former hero off. Switching calls with a big smile on his lips and evil in his eyes he put the phone back to his ear, "Hello, Bre! I heard about your mother and I was just on my way to see you." He'd found his 'who.'

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Well there you have it! ::Sigh:: This was so fricken hard to write! GAWD! I was up every night til two for the past week trying to finish it! JEEZ! But enough about me, let's talk about Jack, and Plio, and Penoso, and Lithe and how everyone seems to nod so damn much…LORDY! But seriously, what kind of a person just kills someone just to freak someone else out?! LITHE DOES! She's such a bad person.

And yes! Penoso has the ability to project illusions into your mind…and other stuff you'll about later, like how he's keeping Jack from thinking ill of him and turning on him. Hehe. Poor Jack, all he wants is to be with Plio, but he just can't. Things were so much simpler when they were just friends. But now he's beaten someone nearly to death and just about killed another. Huh…I wouldn't if she'll take him back when she finds out…

AND IT'S ONLY BEEN FIVE DAYS SINCE CHAPTER SIX WHEN JACK MET PENOSO! Hard to believe right?! I know! Seems like forever cuz so much crap has happened in so little time! And tomorrow, the tomorrow in the story…which will be Friday, will be Jack's birthday! HALLOWEEN!!!

AND WHAT WILL HE DO TO BRE?! I'm gonna warn you, I'll be…disturbing, but not graphic cuz he won't get far before he comes to his senses, so don't worry. This has been a fairly happy story so far and will…somewhat, remain so…kinda.

And what became of Charlie? NO ONE CARES!

Now, in all seriousness, I'm not gonna say this time when the next chap will be up, hopefully before the month is out, or within 14 days. It'll be hard to write cuz I'm gonna wanna make the lemon between Jack and Plio (YES THERE WILL BE SOME AND IT WILL BE THEM) as perfect as I could possibly make it. Hopefully.

Oh, and yes, I did get the Bip bip bip part from Dark Angel for all of you one fan…probably…yes I meant to type it that way! HAHA!...sugar rush…

Well, gotta go, I'm hungry and too lazy to fix anything…dilemma! So, until next time…

FORTH WALL! …randomness.

Luv ya!

Dyno


	17. Jack Attack

YEAH YEAH YEAH, I DON'T OWN BATMAN, BLAH BLAH BLAH YADDA YADDA YADDA!

I AM SOOOO SORRY! See I got into this depression cuz I thought no one was reading my story anymore but then I got this message from Catincanada and I got the inspiration to continue so THANK YOU CATINCANADA!...I prefer dogs, BUT WHATEVER!! THE POINT IS, IS THAT I'M BACK AND I'M READY TO EFFING END THIS STORY SO THAT I CAN GET STARTED ON THE SEQUEL THAT WILL BE SOOOOOO MUCH BETTER!!

Okay anyway, in the last chapter we saw Jack being all weird and junk and he went to the hospital and scared that dude almost to death and whatever. WELL, here is what happens next. I know it may seem a little short, but that's because I had to split the chapter I was working on in half…ish, because it was getting waaaaaaay to long. It was over 12,000 words. Now I know to some that's not a big deal…or important…but if you're like me, you do better with shorter chapters. So here you are!! CUZ I LOVE Y'ALL SO MUCH!!

Now I must warn you, Jack tries to do something very bad in this chapter, something that may upset some people, but I promise it doesn't go far nor get graphic. So don't worry.

Oh, and I will **actually** have the next chapter out probably tomorrow or the next day cuz it's written, I've just got to finish beta-ing it. And it WILL have lemon in it so be prepared. ::_Starts randomly singing The Lion King::_

OKAY, NOW WE ARE OFF WITH THE LONG AWAITED CHAPTER 17!!

**Chapter 17: Jack Attack**

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There was a knock on the apartment door, but she hadn't the strength to get up and answer it. It wasn't from the pain of having the hell beaten out of her, but from the fear of her mother's life and the likelihood that the woman would die. She was in bad shape, living for the moment on life-support up at Gotham General. The wreck that Lithe had caused to 'slow her mother down' last night did do just that, but not because she got stuck behind it, waiting for it to clear. No, it slowed her down because she _was_ the one who had the wreck. It was tremendously catastrophic. A tiny bomb had been placed beneath her car, just behind the back bumper; it wasn't big enough to make the car explode, but just enough to make it flip over…again, and again, and again. And of course they had to live in the city so there was plenty of traffic that managed rammed into the minivan as well. The paramedics had not thought her mother was going to live long enough for them to get her out and to the hospital, but she did, only just though. Groggily, and using whatever she had left in her, Bre arose from her spot on the over stuffed sofa and sauntered to the door, dragging her feet behind her. "Who is it?" she called out, her voice dry with the evidence of her earlier crying marathon.

"It's me." She'd know that voice anywhere. Eager for the company and someone to talk to, she quickly unlatched and unlocked her mother's many "security devices" and pulled the door open. Jack waited patiently on the other side of the threshold, hands in his pockets and a smile upon his concealed face. He had his school make-up and wig on—after seeing the real Jack, without the disguise, she now realized just how unnatural he looked with it on—and she was somewhat sad, excepting to see the bright red smile of the clown she now called her friend. She smiled wearily and then she noticed his yellow eyes.

"What's the point of the disguise if you're not going to where the contacts?" His smile stretched from ear to ear.

"Ah, I got tired of 'em a little while ago and took them out," he explain, "just don't like the way they feel." They stood there in the doorway for a long moment in silence, neither really knowing how to start the conversation. "You look like hell." He finally said, still wearing his grin.

"Thanks." Her own smile was beginning to take form.

"You holding strong?" She nodded slightly in reply, her eyes swelling again, but she fought the tears back. Jack, not liking to see people cry, immediately wrapped his arms tightly around the younger teen. Stepping inside, he softly kicked the door shut. "Hey," he said relaxingly, "it'll be okay, I promise."

"You don't know that," she told him as she pushed him away, "and you shouldn't make promises you can't keep." Wiping her eyes angrily, she crossed the small living room and returned to her spot on the sofa—a permanent imprint of her butt beginning to take form—and plopped back down. Jack watched her in amusement and took a seat beside her; secretly he had no care what-so-ever for the distress she was going through and found it all to be quite funny, something he knew in the back of his mind not to be right. "Nothing is ever going to be okay," she continued, rubbing her nose across the sleeve of her sweater, "not as long as those lunatics are out there. I mean she only caused my mom's wreck because it was fun and something to do, not to mention it allowed her more time to torture _me_. She's an evil being, Jack. Pure evil. Somebody's got to help stop her…" She said the last bit more to herself, Jack didn't even hear.

"Why aren't you at the hospital with your mother?" She vigorously shook her head and wiped her nose again.

"I can't see my mom like that," she whispered, her voice cracking, "all broken and battered. My mom's always been such a strong person. Hell, she's fought of muggers before with her small pistol and pepper spray on a couple occasions. She's fearless." She smiled briefly, and then it faded away. "To see her in that hospital bed would be like, all that she had seemed to be would become a lie. You know? Like, maybe she's not as strong as I thought she was…I know that's not true, but still…"

"You don't think she'd want you there?" Bre laughed quietly—it was, to her, a silly question.

"Of course not. Shoot, she'd probably yell at me if she found out I skipped school today. But I just couldn't go. Who could?" Jack rolled his eyes as she turned her head to gaze out the window. "I was there at that empty office for another good hour or so after Plio ran off after Lithe, waiting for my mom to get there. I was so scared, because it only takes ten minutes to get there from here, and it'd been three or four…or even five hours, I really can't remember. I kept calling her cell phone over and over, but no one would answer for the longest time. And then somebody did." She fell silent for a minute, her back to the clown, who was twiddling his thumbs, bored out of his mind. "It was Commissioner Gordon. She asked me where I was, and I told her, and she said she'd come and get me…then when she got there, she told me what happened. I don't think I even cried. I think I just said okay. I remember going and sitting in the corner, trying to wrap my brain around it all, but all I could think of, all I could hear was Lithe telling Plio and me about the wreck she had caused. _"I'm sure they're still cleaning up the wreckage…it was such a horrible collision…I wouldn't be surprised if there were some…_casualties_," _she had said. I just never thought it'd be my mom…" She swiftly turned back to the clown, startling him a bit, "Jack how much longer until you and Plio take those bastards down?" Jack yawned and shrugged like he had no care of doing so. Rising from the couch, he strolled uncaringly into the small kitchen, the obviously mentally disturbed brunette watching as he did so.

"To be honest, Bre, I have no idea when I'll be able to do so. That Penoso is a smart guy; he's keeping everything so under wraps." Suddenly Bre felt a little uneasy; it might have been her imagination or lack of sleep, but he almost sounded as if he admired the psychotic man…the look on his face didn't help either. "He's got an endless supply of dumbasses that'd do whatever the hell he tells them too, and a hot piece of ass that obeys his every command." Okay, that definitely wasn't the Jack she knew talking. "Perhaps if my father hadn't betrayed him years ago, I really _would_ be the 'prince' of Gotham." With a smile he nonchalantly poured two cups of the hot tea sitting on the stove and sat them atop the bar that divided the two rooms. "Tea?" she shook her head, to afraid to move, he shrugged again and took a sip. "I really am sorry about your mom, Bre. I do hope she pulls through." There was no sincerity in his voice. What was going on with him?

"Thanks…" her gratitude was only half-hearted as she was too busy trying to figure out if his apparent over-cheeriness was a product of insanity or just that, cheeriness.

"My guess is that she'll be out of there in a mouth or so. I mean, she looked pretty banged up, I almost didn't recognize her. Hell, I _didn't_ recognize her. I saw the name on the door and, dipping in, I read her chart and knew it was her. I felt just awful. But don't worry. I'll make sure Penoso knows what Lithe did. He tends to slap her around when she misbehaves, but I see not point in it 'cause they always seem to have _great_ make-up sex afterwards." Bre's nails dung into the white leather of her sofa as her hands clinched the edges of the seat cushions. He'd seen her mom? How?

"Why were you at the hospital?" she asked, not really wanting to hear more of her mother's probable grotesque physique.

"I went and visited that guy I supposedly beat up in the alley," he said ever so casually and looked up to make sure she was paying attention, then went back to stirring his cup of tea, "he told me what I had done to him, because for the life of me," he said with a chuckle, "I just couldn't remember. And, I gotta tell you, I had not idea I could be so…_vicious_." She gulped quietly, her fear building rapidly. "I mean, not only did I beat him but I used a bat. A Louisville Slugger." He grinned at her insanely, "That's a good bat, by the way. Strong, nearly unbreakable. It broke all the bones I wanted it to."

"Why are you telling me this?" she was finally able to ask, though it was barely above a whisper. He laughed.

"Why wouldn't I? I mean, you do find me interesting, right? I thought you'd want to know what all I do…and are capable of doing." He took a sallow of the tea and sat it back down with a casual "Ahhhh." Again he looked at her and smiled. "I found out I can even commit murder." She felt her heart stop, and she wanted to scream and run out of there as fast as she could but she feared what he may do if she tried. But would he do anything? Jack was a kind hearted person, but then again, this seemingly insane person before her _was_ that so-called kind hearted person. "Thomas McGore was his name…well, _is_, if I didn't scare him to death. He realized, after he'd told me the whole story, who I was and went into a full panic and might have had a seizure…not sure. Heh, it was funny though."

"Seizures aren't funny, Jack." Bre said very coldly, her rage starting to rise.

"Oh, Bre," he said excitedly as he whisked around the bar and knelt down in front of her, "but they are, and it was. You see, I discovered that I rather enjoy seeing people suffer, seeing them go through all kinds of hell…all kinds of_ chaos_." He smiled at her and she felt her heart drop to the pit of her stomach; something bad was going to happen in that apartment that day, and there was no one to save her. His hand reached up and cupped her cheek ever-so lovingly and he brushed a stray tear away with his thumb. "I'm an agent of chaos."

"Jack…" she pleaded in a whisper.

"I mean, I am, after all…"

"Jack, please…" His eyes grew wide with insanity and excitement, his smile drew out across his cold face, and then he reached up and pulled his wig off, allowing his green hair to fall. She saw the face of evil…the face of his father.

"…a Joker." The very second the word escaped his lips she punched him away as hard as she could and bolted for the door. She didn't get very far though, she was strong for a small person, but he was, of course, stronger. His arms wrapped around her upper body from behind and threw her back onto the couch. "Now, that wasn't very nice, Bre." He said angrily and began to storm toward her, but she quickly got to her feet and ran into kitchen where he swiftly followed. "Come now, Bre," Jack pleaded like he was a small child, "I just want to play."

"Listen to me, Jack," she said very sternly and backed up to the stove, "you need to leave_ now_," she reached behind her, and, grabbing the teapot, hurled it at her attacker. Unfortunately, she was still exhausted and weak and he easily dodged it.

"Ha, is that the best you've got?" She threw a ceramic mug and hit him between the eyes. "OW! DAMNIT!" She attempted to run by him but he grabbed her roughly by the arm and flung her into the wall, and held her there. She cried out in pain as her already sore back impacted the hard surface. Bringing his face close to hers, their noses nearly touching, he chuckled darkly. "Now, let's have some real fun," Jack whispered in her ear and then planted a soft kiss beneath her jawbone. Then he planted another and another and another. Bre struggled but he wouldn't let up. There was no way this was happening, not in light of everything else she couldn't handle it. She wouldn't! Rounding up whatever strength she had left, she jerked her knee up and dung it deep between he's legs. He dropped her instantly and fell to the floor in pain. Again Bre tried to run for the door, but she just didn't have the strength. She was pulled back and down to the carpet, and, like before, held in place. Straddling her, holding her hands down with his knees, Jack gripped her sweater and ripped it open. She thanked God she was wearing a tank top.

"Jack!" she screamed out.

"Shhh, hush now, this'll be pleasurable, I promise." He kissed her forehead, "And _that_ promise, I _can_ keep."

"Jack, stop it!" she yelled at him, struggling against his grip. She somehow managed to get her hands free and tried to push him off, but it was no use, as he took hold of her wrists and held her arms over her head.

"Shut up! You're giving me a fucking headache!" With what little vigor she had left in her battered body she bellowed out his name…his real name.

"JACKENDABOKS NAPIER, LET ME THE _HELL_ GO!" It was like a switch had been flipped and, almost in a slow motion fashion, he dropped her hands. For a moment he just stared at her, his once insane eyes were now full of terror and confusion. He fell backwards onto his bottom and scurried back a couple of feet, putting some needed distance between them. Jack's eyes were wide with trepidation as he breathed heavily and rabidly through his nose. He gawked, in a daze, at his young friend as she slowly, cautiously, pulled herself up into a sitting position. Bre knew that most people in this situation would more than likely take off and run for help, but she wasn't most people, and this was different, this was Jack. Something was wrong with him, something bad, real bad. She'd only known him personally for a week and had met him once before that, but she knew him, and criminal or not, he wasn't a 'bad' sort of person. She watched him watch her, his eyes only blinking every-so-often, and waited for his next move. But he made no move, not even an attempt to speak, only stared. His yellow eyes were gradually encircled by redness as blankets of tears began to take form atop each bottom lid. Bre's left hand lifted from the floor warily and rose up and out toward him, as if to reach for the petrified clown. What was she doing? He'd just tried to rape her and now she's reaching out for him? Was she going out of her own mind? No…that wasn't the real Jack earlier, something was causing him to act that way, but…this _was _the real Jack…right? As he made no reaction to her gesture she began to pull her hand back, having second thoughts, but kept her eye locked on his. _'Maybe I'm wrong…'_

"Breee…" the word was drawn out in an exasperated, sorrowful, and frightened whisper. _That_ was Jack. Smiling and gasping in utter relief, the overly traumatized brunette lunged forward and latched her arms tightly around his neck as she had done earlier. "Bre, I'm so sorry!" the clown sobbed as his tears broke free, hot as they rolled down his cheeks. His own arms locked around Bre's small frame and he heaved himself up onto his knees "I'm sorry!"

"Shhh," she said softly and soothingly into his ear, "it's alright, everything is alright."

"I didn't mean too!" he carried on, shouting and weeping into her shoulder. "I didn't mean to!" he bellowed, "I—I didn't—I didn't want to!"

"Shhh," her fingers stroked the back of his head, her other hand held on to him, keeping him close to her as she rocked back and forth, cradling the frantic so-called crook. Her own tears began to fall from her copper colored eyes, and she pulled him even closer. She knew to an outsider looking in on the situation, this would be the most bizarre outcome of what had just taken place, but she didn't care. Suddenly all of the sadness she held for her mother, all of the fear she held for the city's future, all of her worries just vanished, everything…gone, and she became the strong one, the person she knew she needed to be. "Jack," she said as she gently pushed him back, holding his face between her delicate hands while he balanced himself on his hands and knees, "Jack, listen to me. You have to be strong, okay? You can't give up and give in."

"What's wrong with me," it was a rhetorical question, but the terror in his voice was still clear and growing.

"Nothing is wrong with you, Jack—"

"Yes there is, Bre," his voice was now sharp and she fell silent. "I'm becoming some kind of a monster." She shook her head, but he ignored the gesture, "I beat the fuck out of that Thomas McGore for the hell of it, I didn't even really protect Plio when she needed me most, and now…" his eyes filled with more tears, "look what I did to you, Bre," he was speaking in a whisper again. "I tried to rape you and if you hadn't managed to stop me—" She placed a finger against his lips to quiet him.

"Let's not think of that. It did not happen and I'm sure you would have found the strength to stop." He tried to look away shamefully, but she pulled his head back, "I know you would have. You're not evil." He nodded, though it wasn't in agreement.

"I murdered someone last night, Bre." She swallowed and felt her body go numb. That had been a bit unexpected.

"What?" Again, he nodded.

"At the bank. A security guard…Jerry Woods," Bre gasped in horror, her hands covering her mouth and his eyes drifted to the floor. She knew the guard, but only somewhat. She knew of his constant attempt at a friendship with the Clown Prince, as well; he was always carrying on about how Jack wasn't the villain people saw him as. He'd say he could see the good hearted person inside. Bre guessed that that had probably meant a lot to the teen, he had talked highly about the guy several times at lunch—although calling him Garry and referring to him as a hotdog vender so they wouldn't realize who he was talking about—so he couldn't be telling the truth. There was just no way. "He surprised us, and was going contact the police, it would have ruined everything. I had to stop him…" his nails dug into the soft carpet, his rage igniting. "Why'd _he_ have to be the one to come?! The bank had closed early yesterday; we had plenty of time to clean it out…but for some reason we didn't and Jerry came around for his nightly checkup and…Bre I don't even remember doing it. It was like one second I was watching him run to go get help and the next thing…I was standing over his blood drenched body." A large lump formed in her throat and she fought strongly to keep the tears from coming. "DAMNIT!" he shouted and slammed his fists into the floor, his head dropping from her hands to inches above the carpet. "WHY THE FUCK DID IT HAVE TO BE HIM?!" Shaking, Bre placed her palm on the back of his head.

"Jack…" he sat up and looked her straight in the eyes, almost in a pleading manner.

"Why am I becoming like this? I don't want to be a monster. All I ever wanted to do was to just cause a little bit of chaos."

"Maybe it's not up to you, Jack. Maybe someone else is pulling the strings."

"Yes!" he yelped, pointing at her, in some mixture of glee, surprise, and dread. "I've been thinking the same thing!" When he spoke he sounded like an inmate of Arkham, or someone that hadn't slept in days, very crazy. "But, you see, every time I do, some _force _makes me brush it off as a ridiculous accusation…which it is…YOU SEE! I can't help it. But it's like all of the sudden I'll get the strangest urges to do something I normally wouldn't, like: yell at my mom, beat some random dude, or make out with some psychotic blond!"

"YOU MADE OUT WITH CHARLIE?!"

"…yes." Her jaw fell to the floor. "But you see," he said, sounding a little more crazy, with is finger in her face, "I didn't _want_ to, I just did!" He paused, and eyed her curiously, "…it's kind of sad, by the way, that you knew who I was talking about…"

"Never mind that! Jack, listen," she pulled his face back close to hers, "DON'T, under any circumstance, let whoever is doing this, do this to you, okay? Don't you ever lose grip of your sanity, _ever_. Hold on to it tightly, because I have a feeling you'll need it in the near future." His face fell with doubt; he looked so sad, which he should have been, but it was just so strange…to see a clown so sad…to see_ him_ so sad. It tore at her already aching heart. He looked down at the floor in despair.

"But…see…I don't think I have any sanity left…" she tilted his head up so he was looking directly at her, and smiled.

"You stopped, didn't you?" His frown contorted into a small smile. It felt so good to have someone believe him and believe _in_ him. But the feeling didn't last very long. Out of nowhere his features changed to that of some sort of pain, like he was fighting a very bad thought. "Jack, what's wrong?"

"I have to go," he told her quickly and, jumping to his feet, rushed to the door. She grabbed him by the arm, having gotten up as well, as he opened the apartment door and wouldn't let him leave.

"Why? Why do have to go?" He smiled again, but it was a sad kind of smile.

"Because…I just had the strangest urge to strangle you to death." Her hands fell to her sides as the words hit her hard. Kill _her_? Why? He turned to leave, but as he headed down the long hallway, she called out to him one last time.

"Jack," he stopped, but did not dare turn around, "You can't let them control you. We need you…Plio needs you." His heart broke at the mentioning of her name. "Besides, you're a lot stronger than them…and I don't necessarily mean physically…_think_ about it." He stalled for a moment more before disappearing around the corner. Bre shut the door quietly, leaning against the back of it. Inhaling deeply, she recalled the outlandish and unexpected events that had just occurred. Sliding down to the carpet, she buried her face in her knees and arms and allowed the heavy flow of tears to pour from her tired eyes. How much more could she handle before she'd finally break?

The phone rang and the brunette nearly jumped out of her skin. Wiping her face and calming herself enough to sound rash, she picked up the receiver. "Hello? …Yes this is Bre Inkling." It was the hospital. "…Doctor Jackson, what is it? …What?" The blood, every last drop of it, drained from her body. She wiped her nose, trying to remain calm, "When?...Um, and, uh, was she, uh, in pain?" her voice was shaky now. "No, no, I'll come by in a bit. I need some time alone. Thank you." She sat the receiver back down in its place and froze.

A new, unfamiliar feeling overcame her with a deadly force…a feeling of vengeance. Bre felt a piece of herself, a piece of her ability to rationalize, be torn away and drug into a black of abyss of which it would never return, and with it, her fear and any chance at a 'normal' future. She clutched the phone tightly and knew that Bre Inkling was dead and gone, and someone new as about to emerge.

.

The cool twilight air swirled around him, chilling him to the bone. He'd been walking for hours, just walking, thinking again. The piece and quiet had done him some good, he was actually beginning to feel a bit relaxed. But what had Bre meant when she said he was stronger than them? And not necessarily physically? _"_…think _about it."_ she had told him. Think? Think about what? Why put so much emphasis on the world 'think?' "Huh…"

"JACKENDABOKS!" Good feeling was gone. "HEY! HOLD ON!" There it was again, that stomach-churning voice he wished to silence forever. "Jackendaboks!" she called again, still not answering, he reluctantly stopped and waited. "Jackendaboks, where have you been?!" Charlie demanded as she came up behind him. "You left me up on that roof, and I'd been mercilessly beaten by that stupid pink bitch and rendered unconscious!" Jack smiled to himself, glad his back was still to her. Oh how he wished he could have seen that. "Look, she even cut my hand with her fucking whip!" Resentfully he turned around and immediately the angry blonde gasped and took a step back—he was still wearing his make-up. "Jackendaboks, you're…you're…" His eyes rolled as far back in to his head as they could possibly go as his annoyance grew. "…you're…"

"JOHN!" he bellowed out, frightening her, "YES, YOU DUMBASS! I'M JOHN! I'M WEARING A DISGUISE! Is that really too hard for you to wrap your tiny little brain around?" the blond frowned and swallowed, hurt that he would speak to her in such a way.

"I'm sorry, I was just surprised," she explained in a hush voice, "but," she laid her hand upon his chest playfully, and leaned forward so that their lips were nearly touching, "I guess I should have known. There's just no way two impossibly sexy men could _not_ be one in the same." She was barely able to get the statement out before he grabbed her by her upper arms and gave her a good, painful shake.

"Listen to me," he demanded of her, his teeth gritted and his voice murderous, "I do not have the time, or the care for that matter, to listen to your voice today! I have much more important things to worry about. Now, leave…me… the fuck _alone_!" All she did, all she could do, was nod. The way he spoke had her fearing for her very life. He released her, but not before pushing her back into the wall that they'd been standing by. Charlie watched hurtfully and tearfully as her beloved Clown Prince stormed away from her; he didn't even care that she was hurt. He must have been going through a bad time, she told herself, and just needed to be alone. But wouldn't the love and support of another be better? Of course, so she would follow him and do just that. She began to walk in the direction Jack had taken when someone called to her.

"Psst! Hey, girl…c'mere!" Charlie turned around and spotted what appeared to be a young woman peering out from around the building. "Come. Here," she said again, pointing to the ground in front of her in irritation. Curious and intrigued, Charlie forgot her plan to follow the clown and headed for the mysterious figure. The red-headed woman extended her hand to the teen when she approached her and said with a satisfying smile, "Hello there, Charlie, I'm Lithe. Can we talk?"

.

Jack wanted to be left alone, that was all, nothing more. Alone. But he wasn't going to get that so easily. No, _hell _no, not at home. "Sweetie!" his mother cried as he walked through the door. "Where did you go this time? I went to check on you earlier to see if you were still asleep—you must have been exhausted because you were passed out for hours—but when I got up there, you were gone. Oh, please tell me you didn't do anything too terrible." Harley Quinn cupped her son's face lovingly, but he wouldn't look at her. She knew immediately he had indeed done something terrible. "Baby, what did you do?" she whispered. "Tell me," she pleaded with him.

"I'm fine, mother, nothing happened." He never called her 'mother.'

"Jacky, please, tell me. We can help you—"

"NOTHING'S WRONG, DAMNIT!" His unexpected outburst startled the older woman and she shrieked in fright. He'd never done _that_ before either. "Now let me fucking be!" He took a threatening step toward the timid ex-criminal but was stopped.

"_Jack_." One word. That's all it took for the boy to freeze in place. The icy, deadly voice of the former Clown Prince of Crime boomed through the open room, an unspoken demand for his son to back off. Jack laughed softly, amused, and turned his head to glare at the aging criminal mastermind who, standing with his arms crossed and sporting a scowl, did not look happy to see the his only son.

"I never thought I'd see the day," Jack said with a smile, "when you'd come to mom's defense." The Joker did not smile.

"That is because I am the only one who may speak to her in such a manner." Harley beamed at her husband…sadly that was the most romantic thing he'd ever said…and meant.

"And why is that, _dad_? Because you're all big and bad? Huh—"

"I am the _only_ one who may _speak_ to her in such a manner," he barked again while moving to stand between his wife and son—standing so close to his son that Jack had to take a step back—poking the young clown in the chest, "because she is _my_ WIFE!" Jack rolled his eyes and laughed. "And because _that_…is not who you are…son." He stopped laughing. Joker sounded so…concerned? _'Did he call me son?' _ "You are not the type of person that would speak ill toward you mother, someone you care for deeply. You may be a asshole, _Jack_, but you are _not _me." That hit home. It was one thing for him to tell himself that, or to hear it from others, but it was entirely different to hear straight from the horse's mouth. "This may sound strange coming from me, son, but the truth, something I have come to terms with, is that you are meant to do great, tremendous things in this world, both good and bad…but…never evil. Not like me."

"You're wrong, dad," he said coldly. "I've become quite the little devilish monster. I've already," he counted off on his fingers, "almost beat someone to death, murdered a defenseless security guard, and…" he hesitated, "…I attempted to rape a weaker and already battered high school girl." Harley gasped, and her hand flew to her mouth just in time to blanket her shrill of terror. "Chill out, mom! I said 'attempted!' I didn't get very far before, lucky for her, I had a change of heart."

"Are you really too stupid to see for yourself?" Jack's attention returned to his father.

"What are you talking about?"

"That bastard is controlling you, Jack!" The Joker exclaimed. "That's what he does! He manipulates people to do his bidding! He gets inside people's minds and brings out the very worst in them…turns them into demons like him."

"Like you're one to talk!"

"I may have done some horrible things in my day, son, but I never caused as much pain and suffering in all my years as he did in that one night. More blood was spilt in our pathetic effort to stop him than I ever want to see again. That was when I retired. I will not let him get that far this time."

"Well, good luck with that, because he's too powerful to stop. Hell, I _know_ he's controlling me, and I _know_ he's just using me to do his dirty work, but somehow he's still managing to keep me loyal to him."

"Than you can fight it, Jack." He shook his head again.

"No, no, I don't think I can. 'Cause you see," he pointed to his own head with both index fingers, "he keeps giving me these little 'urges' to do stuff, and sometimes I can ignore them, but, sometimes I can't. Like right now," he reached behind him and picked up a steak knife from the table and gripped it firmly—The Joker watched as his son's eyes once again swelled with regret and helplessness in the form of tears, "I've got this urge to slit your fucking throat."

"Of course you do," was all he said, and, after a wave of his hand, Jack felt something very heavily slam into the back of his head. He fell to the floor in an unconscious heap, but before he blacked out for good, he heard his father's voice. "I hated to have to do that to you on your birthday, Jack, but a good whack on the head, I learned years ago, can cause migraines, which hurts your ability to focus, thus keeping you from being controlled." The elder clown fell silent for a brief moment before speaking again, "Penoso, I know you can hear me. I'll not allow you to continue doing this to _my_ son," his voice would cause Death himself to shudder. "I suggest you do not go anywhere, for I wish to speak to you…man to man…so prove that you are one, and listen to what I have to say. And Penoso, if you cause my boy anymore pain, I will kill you." Jack could hear a bizarre laughter in the back of his mind, one he'd come to know very well over the past week, and he knew the Italian got his father's message.

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Okay! There you go! The first half of the original chapter seventeen! Now if you are wondering about the timeline, so am I. I've spent so much time figuring it out, forgetting it, figuring it out again, and forgetting it again. So here it is: The chapter started out as Thursday afternoonish with them in Bre's apartment, and when Jack is walking around outside and bumps into Charlie, it's late Thursday night, early Friday morning, and then when Jack gets home it's about seven in the morning on Friday…October 31st. YAY FOR HALLOWEEN!! NOT ONLY IS IT AN AWWWWWWWESOME HOLIDAY, BUT IT'S ALSO JACK'S BIRTHDAY!! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!! …sugar rush…again.

Okay, now y'all be patient and I'll go finish with chapter 18!!! YAYNESS!!!

Lurv ya,

Dyno


	18. Happy Halloween

OH MY GOD!! GUESS WHAT!!!

…I still don't own Batman.

ANYWAYS! So I know I said I'd have this out like two days after the last, well, see, I lost my flash drive and then I found it and then I decided to wait to post it until October 31 cuz this chapter takes place on Jack's birthday, Halloween, I know, creative right? So I did and here it is. Now I warn you, this has some graphic sex in it, but I marked where it starts and where it ends so you can just skip right over it.

Oh and thanks to those who reviewed and favorited my story, it means soooooooo much. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!! And if you want to find the song that I used in this chapter, go to either or and type in Evanescence – Anywhere and you should be able to find it. It's like a six minute song. It's awesome.

NOW ON WITH CHAPTER EIGHTEEN!! Which ironically is the chapter that both characters turn eighteen in…huh. Completely by accident. COOL!!

**Chapter 18: Happy Halloween**

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Plio awoke with a sharp inhale of air as she opened her eyes to meet the sun's golden rays. What the hell had happened to her? And how the hell she'd end up in this car. The last thing she remembered was… "JACK! Ow!" her hand went to her forehead in reaction to the throbbing pain sitting up so quickly had caused. "I'm gonna kill that mother fucker when I find him. I can't believe he knocked me out…although," she thought, "I guess he did it to save my life. That psycho bitch did have me petrified…but still, that kinda hurt. Not to mention I'm getting really fucking tired of being knocked out." Sighing, she looked outside the window at her surroundings, and, seeing virtually no shadows, realized it was mid afternoon. Kicking the door open she slid out and tiredly—which was surprising considering she was sure she had had a pretty long nap—stood up, stretching. _Beep beep…beep beep_ "Huh…oh, my phone!" she smiled having remembered the handy little device. Pulling back her left sleeve, she flipped open the little black carrier strapped to her arm—she had no pockets—and pulled out the pink and black cell. She smiled from ear to ear when she saw the screen.

"Damn, mom, I've only been gone for like thirty-six hours. Okay, even given that that is a _really_ long time, 452 missed calls from a single person is a little ridiculous…" she contemplated on whether or not to call her more than likely hysterical mother, "…I'll call her later," and she slid the phone shut. As she started to put it away she noticed strange…the date. "Friday, October 31? Huh…it's Jack's birthday. How 'bout that." She smiled and looked to the sky. "It sucks our birthdays have to be completely ruined by all this shit. Heh…maybe it'll all be over by tomorrow for my birthday…but I doubt it." Grinning she put the phone back in its rightful place. "Oh shit, wait—" she yanked the phone back out in a frenzy and flipped it open, "Oh…my God…I SLEPT THROUGH ALL OF THURSDAY! God, that means I've been gone from home for two and a half fucking days! SHIT!" Quickly she dialed her mother's number and prayed she wouldn't be too mad, but too much wishful thinking was unhealthy. "Hi, mom."

"PLIO DELIA WAYNE! WHERE THE FUCK HAVE YOU BEEN?!" _'Damn…'_ "DO YOU KNOW HOW FUCKING WORRIED I'VE BEEN?! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!" She honestly felt really bad for having worried her mother so much, but listening to her mother go off like that was funny as hell.

"I'm sorry, mom, I got knocked out during that bank robbery and—"

"DON'T YOU SMILE ABOUT THIS!" _'Damn, how'd she know she was smiling?'_

"I'm not smiling, mom…"

"YES YOU ARE, I CAN HEAR IT IN YOUR GODDAMN VOICE! THIS IS NOT FUNNY!"

"No, I know it's not funny. That's why I'm not smiling." Her smile grew.

"You've had all of us so scared, Plio! Bre called me Wednesday night in a panic and told me what happened! About the fight between you and that red-headed woman, and how you went off to find her! I was so sure you'd been killed."

"Gee, thanks for having some faith in me—"

"Plio!" The young Wayne jumped at the over dramatized cry of her name. "You have NO idea who the fuck you are dealing with! These people are _very_ dangerous, more so than you have ever had to face." What was the deal with these guys?

"How do you know these people, mom? Have they been here before?" Her mother fell silent. Plio waited, but nothing was said. "Mom?"

"Plio, please," her mother begged, "just come home. Right now. We'll discuss it later. Okay?" Now Plio was silent.

"…Sorry, mom, I can't, I've got things to do. I'll be home later. Now, I've got to go check the bank."

"Okay, fine, Plio, but…I have to warn you." Her mother's voice was different now, soothing, sorrowful even, like she was preparing to tell her something terrible.

"Of what?"

"There was a fatality…a security guard was murdered during the robbery," Plio took in another sharp breath. "It was Jerry Woods." Suddenly she felt the need to vomit. He couldn't be dead. Not Jerry. Why would Jack let that happen—Jack. Jack?

"Mom…" the heroine's voice was shaky with dread now, "do you think Jack did it?"

"I don't know sweetie, but to be honest, I don't think that boy's actions are his decision to make any more." She flipped the phone shut without say goodbye, not wanting to hear anymore, and put it back in its holder. She then noticed something strange on her arm.

"What's this?" she asked no one and moved her fingers across her skin over a small brownish dot, a dot about the size of a needle. "Fucking bastards…they fucking drugged me! ERRR!" Now in a fit of rage, she stormed out of the alley. Turning the corner, she climbed the large stone steps, and marched up to the bank doors; where she was stopped by the commissioner. Hot tears fell from her blue eyes but she gritted her teeth and held it together. "I'm sorry, Commissioner." She was holding her breath to keep her voice from cracking with grief. "I tried to stop them, but…I wasn't ready to face someone like…" It was all too much: the memory of Lithe slitting the man's throat, the pain she inflicted on her friend Charlie, people getting the upper hand on her more and more, and now the death of a dear friend. Plio buried her face in the elder woman's chest, soaking her coat with uncontrollable tears. Barbara Gordon wrapped her up in a bear hug, knowing exactly what she was going through.

"It's okay, Plio," she whispered lovingly, "this wasn't your fault." She stroked the teen's hair as she continued to sob. "You can't expect to win every time, not alone…not at your age. Hell, I know I didn't." Images of fallen victims flashed through the commissioner's mind. "So you can't blame yourself. All right? After all, you're only human." Stepping back, Plio nodded and wiped her eyes on her sleeve.

"How'd he die?" Barbara sighed and dug her hands deep inside her coat pockets.

"Stabbed…multiples times," Plio gasped, and began to unravel again, "but," she said quickly, "the cornier said the first blow killed him instantly, so he felt no pain." Barbara waited a minute or so before she spoke again, allowing the young girl some time to wrap her brain around it all. When she did speak again, she spoke with caution, knowing the relationship between the two teens. "Plio," she said softly, "I hate to tell you this, I truly, truly do, but Jack's prints were found all over the knife." She said nothing, only breathed, a distant look forming in her blue eyes. "Plio. Plio, look at me," Barbara demanded as she shook the girl gently. "I need you to tell me everything. Everything you know, and everything you think you know. Why would he do this?"

"He wouldn't," she managed to choke out; "they're making him. I don't know how, but they are." Pushing Barbara out of the way, Plio burst through the oversized doors of the banks entrance and immediately threw up. They must have been cleaning it for about a day now, but there was just so much blood. From the look of the overwhelming about of crimson splattered everywhere, one would assume that a great number of people had been slaughtered there. Plio feel to her knees sobbing uncontrollably. How could someone do this? Just then a gentle hand was placed on her shoulder as someone knelt down behind her.

"You can relax, Plio, most of it is just pig's blood." Plio looked up in a mixture of horror and confusion. "I think they just wanted to psych us out, make us go insane with fear and panic." Plio's eyes went back to the blood soaked walls and her father's 'rules' began to slowly drain from her memory. "Which is why I need to know who 'they' are?" Regaining her composure, the pink heroine moved slowly back to a standing position, wiping her nose and eyes on her sleeve again, she signaled for the commissioner to stand up as well and to follow her. The two stepped over to a corner, away from everyone else, and, taking a deep breath, she began her story.

"'They're a deadly group of people under the command of a demon like man and his whore that calls herself, Lithe." Her voice was dead, as if she had given up on the good in humanity. "The rest of the men are just lackeys, but don't underestimate them. They're no better than the bitch. They too do whatever the hell their master tells them to do. And their not too short on the fighting skills, either. But this chick, Lithe, now she's a vicious person. No remorse, no mercy, no care for any other living creature. She'd do anything for her leader and 'lover.' You see, she used to work for the CIA here in the US when she was eighteen or nineteen," she explained, recalling a phone call she received from Bre shortly after leaving her at the office building. "She was like a spy or assassin or something like that. And she was the best of the best. No one could stop her, no one survived if they did. But she murdered some innocent people or whatever and the government tried to detain her, with plans to kill her, but they couldn't. She escaped with ease and the lives of those who go in her way. She worked for powerful, evil people for a few years over in Europe, before she came across a man in an Italian prison. Soffrire…Pen—"

"Penoso Soffrire?!" Barbara asked in a frantic paranoid shriek. Plio nodded.

"How'd you—"

"He's back…" she muttered to herself, Plio eyed her curiously, "…he can't be back…oh God, what are we going to do…"

"Um…Barbara? You, uh…you know this guy, too?" She didn't answer the question, but what she said next, did.

"Listen carefully. You go home and you stay there, okay? Don't you dare try to take this man on alone. It took all of us, hero and villain, to take him down last time. If you do try, I promise you, you _will_ die." Plio watched as the commissioner turned and left in a hurry, leaving no real explanation for her strange behavior. With a heavy sigh, she made her way out and down the steps, before heading back into the shadows of the alley. She took a seat off to the side and watched the world go by. It had always amazed her, no matter how bad a past catastrophe was, you'd never know it but watching the city folk. Never had they let lowlife crooks, crocodile like men, plant loving women, and psychotic clowns keep them down for long. The people of Gotham City might have been the biggest snobs in the country, but they were the toughest bunch of assholes money could buy. _GURGLE_ Plio's hand went to her stomach and she realized how hungry she was…it'd been a day and a half since she'd last eaten. Smiling, she decided to visit the sub store a couple doors down.

She'd lost track of how long she'd been sitting there, thinking about the possible futures, and eating her sandwiches she'd bought. She loved going to places like that in costume, it made the kids' day. They got to see a hero up close and personal. She watched as the children and their parents walked up and down the streets in their own costumes now. It was Halloween and trick-or-treating was done earlier in Gotham, it started at five. When you live in a city with so many crooks, you tend to do more things while it was still daylight.

"I don't think Jack could have been born on a more perfect day," she thought to herself with an idiotic grin. "Born already in costume. Ha!" She rubbed her heavy eyes aggravatingly—that drug just didn't want to get out of her system—and continued to watch. The city's inhabitants were so unaware of the likely bloody genocide that might occur in the next few days, and she wished she could be so clueless herself. To think almost one week ago their lives where perfectly normal—well, normal for her and Jack—and now, six days later, everything was falling apart, sanity itself was slipping away from those who needed it most, and they were being forced to wait for Hell on Earth and the opportunity to 'try' and, probably fail, to stop it. _'Gee, sounds like fun.'_

So what was the big damn deal about this Penoso guy? She'd seen first hand that he could be pretty ruthless, but nothing too bad. It was the girl that had had her freaked out, but no one knew who she was. So what could he have done that was so bad? Commissioner Gordon seemed scared out of her mind when she learned of his name; had she fought against him too? She thought about all of the unexplained deaths of so many super heroes and villains alike and how no one seemed to really remember or want to talk about them. 'Oh he went and got himself blown up,' they would say. 'I think she fell in a vat of acid,' another would say—so what? Was the Joker the only one who could survive that? Oh, her personal favorite was: 'I saw those Men in Black come and take them away for scientific experiments.' No, they didn't just die, none of them, no, she had a feeling they were all murdered. Murdered so brutally that no ever spoke of it and it was erased from history; Gotham's own little dirty secret. And maybe, just maybe, that murderer was back.

Rose.

She knew this smell; there was only one person she knew that wore it. The sent was faint, but it was there, lingering in the air. Rose…and…and something heavy coming for the side of her head. Quickly she jumped up, whirling around at the same time, and caught the two by four in her left hand. Lithe smiled. "You know, you're pretty good."

"No," she said coldly and yanked both the piece of wood and Lithe forward, so their faces just about touched. "I'm great." BD's fist plummeted into the left side of the redhead's black-colored mouth, causing her to stubble back.

"Fucking bitch," she spat out, along with some blood, her hand pressed firmly against her bottom throbbing mouth. "That was fucking uncalled for."

"You're one to talk," BD's face, voice, nor body language showed any sign of fear or want to run away, not this time. She was done with being a timid little, half-ass hero. If she was to get knocked out or killed this time around, she was at least taking the bitches pretty green eyes with her. "I'm gonna fucking kill you, Lithe." Lithe, straightening herself up and revealing an already fattening, bloody lip, laughed and shook her head.

"Nuh-ah, to do that you'll have to break your one rule." The corner of the BD's pink mouth curled up into a devious little smirk when the red-head lunged for her again with the piece of two by four. "But I'll gladly kill you." A long, slick metal spike—about six inches in length and a centimeter in diameter—suddenly protruded from a brace strapped to BD's forearm, parallel to both her arm and palm. The spike dug deep into the top of Lithe's left shoulder, away from any serious arteries or veins.

"I'm not my father." Lithe cried out in pain as four inches of cold titanium slid deeper and deeper into her body. Pulling the lethal weapon out, BD again swung her fist into the deranged villainess's face, knocking her onto her back. Lithe stared up at the grinning heroine in awe; she couldn't believe she'd done that. Maybe there was more to this girl than she had thought. "C'mon, Lithe," the teen taunted, the spike slipping back inside its holder, "show me what you've got." Grinning now as well, Lithe flip herself up to her feet and immediately attempted to kick her enemy in the head with her heal, but her foot was caught and she was thrusted back to the ground. Trying to scurrying back to her feet, the henchwoman pulled her fatal katana from its sheath, growling in frustration, and sliced it through the air. Swiftly picking up the piece of wood the villainess had dropped, BD held it up just as the blade came within inches of her head. Twisting both the board and sword, she managed to jerk it from Lithe's hands and tossed it too the ground. Something didn't seem right…this was far, _far_ too easy. Lithe, having noticed the growing curiosity in her eyes, smiled innocently. "You're not even trying," she accused.

"Well, you did stab me in my arm, might I remind you," she explained oh so causally, and pointed to the bleeding wound; a perfect little circle.

"You're just the type of masochistic person that probably wouldn't mind a little bit of pain." The lunatic purred with a sardonic kind of smirk has the index finger of her right hand swabbed some of the crimson fluid oozing from her body. Her finger moved to hover over her blackened lips.

"I do quite enjoy _pain,_" Ugh, the thought of her and that freak, Penoso, together was enough to make any sane person want to vomit. But that thought quickly dissolved away when Lithe's finger, blood and all, disappeared inside her pretty little mouth. Okay, _that_ was enough to make _any_ person want to vomit, sane or not. Lithe smiled triumphantly at the girl's obvious dismay. "What? Petrified, petite?"

"First of all," she said while holding up her finger, and swallowing the bit of barf that had worked it way into her throat, "the second time around, it's only disturbing," Lithe shrugged her shoulders in a 'Whatever,' like fashion, "and secondly, don't try to act all French when you're not."

"I AM FRENCH! YOU STUPID BITCH!"

"Nooo, your ancestor's and possibly some relatives might be French, but _you_ are not.. But you're too stupid to get that threw your thick head." Breathing heavy through her nose to stay calm, Lithe's eyes moved to look past the heroine, to something of obvious significance behind her, and then back to her enemy. It was quick, but BD saw, and the smile that was growing on her sadistic face quickly disappeared when the teen's hands flew up above her head. She'd somehow managed to catch the shimmering blade that had been slicing through the air from behind her in the palms of her hands. Keeping it firmly in her grasp, BD yanked it down to the right and twisting around, causing the assailant to drop the weapon and take her boot to their gut. She gasped when she realized who it was. "Charlie…" she breathed just barely above a whisper. Since when did _she _attack people with deadly weapons? Or just attack them, period. Feeling a bit of rage coming on, BD found herself picking the blonde up by her shirt and holding her against the wall with more strength than she thought she had. "What the fuck is wrong with you, you fucktard?!"

"Nothing is wrong with me!" she spat back.

"What would you have done if that had actually killed me?!"

"Celebrated!" The word took the heroine's breath away. Rejoiced? She'd be happy killing a hero? She'd be happy _killing_? What the hell was wrong with her? _'Why her?'_ she thought as she gazed upon her friend's psychotic smile, _'Why Charlie? She was getting so much better…why Lithe have to choose her?'_ The blonde kept her eyes locked—a look of murder in her anxious stare—on the now depressed BD as the red-head arose from behind. "When we get done," Charlie began, still smiling, "and you're dead," there was a certain tone of excitement in her voice, "there'll be nothing left to get in the way of me and Jackendaboks." All sense of depression was gone…only annoyance.

"I figured I should tell her about the two of you," Lithe chirped, "about all the _love_ you two share, and how you're stealing her man from her." This whole obsession her friend was having with the clown prince was really starting to piss the vigilantly off, not because of jealousy or anything but just because the bitch was so fucking stupid. _'I don't know how much more insanity I can take before I lose it.'_ She sighed and bent down a bit to look the blond in the eyes.

"I would like us to get something straight, to get it clear," BD, ignoring Lithe—which irritated her to no end—pointed a finger at her friend as if she was a mother scolding a child, "HE HATES BEING CALLED JACKENDABOKS, **DUMBASS**!" She put every ounce of emphasis she could on the word. "And second of all—now listen carefully retard—he…does not…_love_…you. Let alone _like_ you. You annoy the living _fuck_ out of him. He wishes you were dead." Charlie fought back the tears from the thought of her beloved hating her.

"Damn, BD, that was…kind of harsh." BD glared back at the psychotic mercenary; it had to be said.

"YOU LIE!" She screamed, and the attention was back to her. "If he hated me so much he wouldn't have made out with me so many fucking times!" BD back off from the obsessed psychopath and, with one hand on her hip, pinched her nose between her shut eyes and took a couple relaxing breaths.

"Alright, I'm gonna lay this out so even you can understand it…" she bent down again, resting her hands on her knees and waited a moment before continuing, almost laughing at how intently Charlie was listening, "…you…are…easily…manipulated…and fucked." The moment BD finished speaking Charlie's own boot came flying up in an attempt to strike the heroine in the nose, but BD caught it with ease and twisted it; a loud, nauseating crack echoed in the narrow alley. Charlie's screams rang out loudly in the small area, almost distracting her former friend from the attack coming from behind her. It didn't work through.

The blood dripped to the dark concrete ground as Lithe gasped more from the shock than the pain. BD had spun around at the last moment extending the metal rod hooked to her arm and jammed it into the lunatic's abdomen. Charlie fell silent, too afraid to make a sound. BD wasn't supposed to hurt her opponents like that; those were her father's rules, and she had to follow what her father told her…right? She couldn't kill. She couldn't. The teen hero leaned forward and whispered into her adversary's ear, the deadly venom in her voice mimicking the red-head's, "I told you…Lithe, I'm not my dad." She jerked the shiny object out, earning her a cry from her victim, who fell back against the wall. She watched the woman clutch to her stomach in shock, unable to speak, and frighteningly found it…intriguing. "Don't worry," she finally told her, "you won't die. Not if you go medical attention quickly. I've studied human anatomy for years, I know exactly where and how deep I can penetrate a person before they die." The sound of glass breaking followed by an alarm and multiple screams could be heard from a store not to far away.

"It's a good thing you've developed this merciless attitude, BD, you're gonna need it tonight." BD's eyes moved back and forth between the street and the murderer. "Penoso sent out quite a number of our men to wreak havoc and chaos on the city this evening, and they're all _very_ evil. Let's see just how many you're willing to kill to protect and save your precious citizens, because be assured that they won't stop until they are dead." Then she was at her ear, behind her. "I guarantee you there will be blood…lots of it. Have fun." She whipped around but they were gone. Then she heard more windows break followed by more screams. She felt a piece of her former self slip away and ran out to the hell that awaited her…leaving her forgiveness behind.

.

Pain…aching, unbearable pain…God his head hurt. Had it really even been necessary to hit him that hard? Well, then again he was going to try to kill them…but still, that really hurt. Sitting up slowly in his bed, the clown gazed upon his surroundings and sighed. It was dark outside, like late night or early morning, he'd completely missed his birthday. A couple weeks ago he was praying he could spend the day hanging out with his best friend, then just one week ago, he was praying to spend a more intimate night with his best friend. Looks like those wishes were out the damn window. Throwing the covers back he noticed he was in his pajamas. _'Heh…mama's baby boy,'_ he smiled uncontrollably; the woman was always finding excuses to take care of him like he was still a little boy. Oh well, at least she picked his favorite pair; they had dragons on them. He thought about how he had raised his voice to her and threatened her; how could he have? The thought of ever inflicting pain on his loving mother clawed at his insides, she might have deserved it way back when but not anymore. He couldn't let this bastard control him. _'Bastard?' _Rubbing the back of his head where the pain was pulsating, he realized his mind was calm, and he was thinking clearly. _'I guess he can't get in my head if I can't focus…nice. Dad was right.'_ He stood up, stretching and yawning feeling pretty good, despite the throbbing lump on his skull, hoping to salvage whatever was left of his birthday. Then a thought struck him: his Plio, lying in that abandoned car. Left alone with no answers as to what happened. He wanted to throw up. What was she going to think when she saw the after math in the bank? "Plio…" he breathed, grief gnawing at his heart, killing him slowly.

"Yes?" The clown jumped, shrieking in surprise, then, tripping over himself, hit the floor. Plio burst into laughter, waving at him from a chair on the opposite side of the room. He shamefully hung his head as he rose, taking a couple deep breaths, enjoying and loving the sound of her laugh, it made his heart hurt a little less.

"What the hell is that noise?" he asked, having noticed the music coming from his stereo.

"It's just this old group from way back when called, Evanescence. They have good songs to listen too when…'you're feeling down.' You know, that whole dropping to the floor thing was funny as hell. I had no idea you scare so damn easily." He smiled grudgingly at her.

"I usually don't, but it's been a rough couple of days." When she spoke he could here the sadness overflowing in her voice.

"You're telling me." At the sound of her distraught, Jack reached out and flipped the light on. _'Oh God.' _His body fell numb as terror overtook him. What the fuck had happened to her? Her clothes were splattered and soaked with blood…a lot of it. Traces of it were left on her face where she had obviously tried to wipe it off in a frantic state. Her usually bright blue eyes were dull now, almost lifeless, black bags forming beneath them. Her skin was pale and bruised from some kind of beating; she must have gone through hell itself. Plio waved off his horrified expression as if he were overreacting. "Don't worry, Jack, it's not my blood…not all of it at least." Then she looked away.

"Plio…" he breathed again.

"You've been asleep for hours, almost an entire day; I was starting to think you were never going to wake up." She tried to smile but she just couldn't.

"Plio…" he said again, but she still did not look at him, it was like it was too painful for her.

"Happy eighteenth birthday, by the way, just another half an hour and it'll be mine." He watched her for what seemed like an eternity. Her face fell…as did her tears. He wanted to hold her, but his body just wouldn't move.

"What happened, P?" It took her a moment to answer, to get the words around the large lump that had formed in her throat, but she managed to choke out the sentence before her sobs finally overcame her and she fell to pieces.

"I killed someone." She whispered and his heart broke. In an instant he was across the room in front of her and yanked her out of the chair. He encased her in a loving hug, holding her tight, wanting to protect her from the memory of whatever she had been through. She continued to cry into his bare chest, her own arms wrapping around his back. "I didn't want to, Jack, I didn't want to kill him. I swear, but there were just so damn many of them! I had to stop them, I had to stop them all! I don't know what I would have done if he hadn't called them off. I don't want to think of the carnage."

"What are you talking about, P? Please tell me what happened?" Wiping her eyes, she gently pushed herself out of his grip and sat down on his bed, as did he. "Who did this P? Who hurt you?"

"Who do you think? Penoso. The fucking bastard sent out a good number of his lackeys to cause horrendous mayhem all over Gotham." She told him the whole story, about Lithe and Charlie, her suspicions that all the adults had known about Penoso, and about that night's attack on the city folk. "Those men, those demons, are so damn ruthless. I was doing good just fighting them off, but there was this one, he was attacking this woman, and he was going to seriously hurt her, her and her kid. I told him to stop, but he didn't—I'd already seen so much blood already, I didn't want to see them cause more—so when he turned a gun on the little kid, I jumped him and stabbed him in the heart with my metal spike. I know I'm not supposed to kill, Jack, I know it, but I had too." Jack wrapped his arms around her again, and pulled her into his lap, so that she was sitting sideways on his legs. "I just thank God he called them off…Jack he had no reason for all of that. He just did it to see how far he could push me. That's it…and I did exactly what he wanted me to do."

"Shh, it's okay," he told her, kissing the top of her head. "Everything is going to be alright." Again he kissed her. "I promise."

"How have you been?" She asked, trying to get her mind off of what she'd done. What she'd seen.

"Not too good, P, not too good. I've done some bad stuff, real bad, hurt some people I care about, was wacked over the head, and on top of everything else, I've been losing large chunks of time…" he turned his head slightly, "…lazy as author."

"What?"

"Nothing." She laid her head on his chest once more and he ran his fingers through her soft hair.

"I want to know what's going on with you." She said after a while.

"What are you talking about?"

"I got a call from Bre," his stomach churned, "while I was waiting for you to wake up. She said she'd seen you yesterday and you were not yourself." It was his turn to look away. His body tensed up and he dared not look at her.

"She told you what happened?"

"Yeah, after half an hour of coaxing it out of her…that girl's like a fucking rock."

"You don't seem mad at me. How come?" Plio reached up with her right hand and, cupping his left cheek, pulled his head downward so that he was looking at her.

"I was. God I so mad. But she reminded me that you weren't yourself, that you were being controlled. That you couldn't help it. So I figured, how could I be? You stopped didn't you?" He tried to speak but she cut him off. "That wasn't you, Jack. You don't do that sort of thing. You're a good person—"

"AM I?!" He shouted, pushing her off and jumping up from the bed. "I've done a lot of terrible things lately, Plio!" he shouted, "…at least I think I have."

"What do mean?" she asked, staying seated on the bed, giving him his space.

"I killed someone too, P." She swallowed. "I killed Jerry." The tears returned to her eyes, but Plio refused to let them flow. "He was one of my only friends, and I killed him.

"I don't believe it."

"Neither do I. I don't even remember doing it. It was like one minute I was watching those dumbasses clean out the bank vault and the next thing I was standing over Jerry's bloody body." She reached out for him, a puzzled expression upon her face.

"I don't understand—"

"He's inside my head, P!" he shouted and pointed to his head, whirling around so that he was facing her. "He keeps telling me to do things, bad things, things I normally wouldn't do…like rape Bre. Plio, I didn't want to attack her like that, but I couldn't help it. He made _want_ to do it. I honestly don't know how she managed to get me to stop…can you imagine what would have happened if she couldn't have." Slowly she rose and stepped up to the broken clown and embraced him as he had done for her. It took him a moment but eventually his arms rose and encased her yet again. "When I left the bank to put you in that car, the unconscious lackeys were still sprawled out on the floor, but when I came back, they were gone, in minutes…then when I got in the elevator, just when the doors shut, I looked up and there was a pile of bloody bodies in the middle of the bank lobby." Plio looked up at him in awe. "You see what he wants you to see."

"So he controls your mind?"

"Not exactly, he can control what you see, to some degree, and he can more or less give you 'urges' to do things, than actually make you do them. Seeing how I've managed to _not_ do things."

"So you think he made you think you killed Jerry when it was actually him?" He nodded. "Huh…wait, I thought you couldn't think ill of him."

"Normally I can't, but I have a migraine from my mother hitting me on the back of the head with a frying pan. And since all I can focus on is the pain, he can't get inside my mind. At least that's how my dad explained it." He was quiet again for a couple moments. "Plio I don't ever want this migraine to go away. I don't want to be controlled. I don't want to be the cause of your pain and suffering…or death." Smiling, Plio pushed him down onto the bed so he was sitting.

"First off, Penoso will be the direct cause of my pain and suffering, which, I may remind you, is his name, Penoso Soffrire." He smiled and she continued, "And second of all," placing a hand on either shoulder, she gently and ever-so lovingly straddled his awaiting lap, "I don't see you ever hurting me. Not like that." She held his face in her hands and looked him in his tired eyes, "I love you so much. I don't plan to ever lose you, Jack. So we'll beat this psychopath together, make sure he never comes back. All right?" His hands latched onto her hips and he smiled even more.

"Got it. Let's kill Kruger."

"Idiot." They shared a smile before her lips lowered down onto his in a passionate kiss. He pushed up as she pushed down, deepening the kiss as much as they could, his moist tongue exploring the depts of her warm mouth as hers did the same for his. She moaned as his hands began to travel up and down her abdomen, sending chills throughout her body. His lips left hers to travel along her jaw, and down to the nape of her neck, leaving a trail of kisses behind. Her arms snaked their way around his head, holding him close to her, allowing her fingers to tangle in his green-black hair. Suddenly she felt his 'throbbing' need for her and they parted. Panting heavily, they stared intently into one another's eyes. Should they continue and let nature take its course or stop right then? They were scared…scared that if they did continued, the relationship between them would never be the same. How could it be? It was already different from what it had been for the past eighteen years, and if it went any further, even if they ended up marrying and living out their lives together, it was never going to be quiet the same. Not with who and what they were.

But they didn't care. Plio reached her arms out and tore off her detached sleeves, smiling—and still breathing heavily—at her beloved Jack while he held onto her slender waist. He hesitated for a moment, but only for a moment. His hand glided up her back and, with one last pause, unzipped her top.

The music on the stereo changed and the song Anywhere began to play.

_**LEMON, PEOPLE! SKIP OVER IF YOU DON'T LIKE!**_

Slowly the pink and black laced top slid down her goose-bumped arms and was tossed to the floor, revealing her glorious bosom—something Jack saw as sacred, just for his eyes. Plio's arms stayed by her sides as his pure white hands began to explore her newly exposed skin. His fingers traced the muscles of her abdomen, up to her luscious mounds; her eyes shut tightly and she gasped at the feel of his touch, her head tilting back while she breathed deeply. Jacked watched her breast rise and fall, seemingly mesmerized until her own hands unconsciously latched onto the back of his head and guided him to her waiting chest. His lips were so soft against her skin, his mouth so warm. She held his head while his kisses trailed down the valley between her breasts to her right nipple. He engulfed the lovely lump like a starving beast, immediately going to work. Plio moaned while his tongue flickered, his teeth nibbled, and his lips sucked in the intoxicating taste of her flesh.

_Dear, my love, haven't you wanted to be with me and,  
Dear, my love, haven't you longed to be free;  
I can't keep pretending that I don't even know you when,  
At sweet night, you are my own.  
Take my hand._

In one swift move he had her on her back, lying on his welcoming bed so that her legs were bent over the edge while he towered over her, never allowing his mouth to part from her chest. His free hand slipped up her sensitive stomach to grope her left breast. His fingers squeezed and massaged, rolling her nipple between his thumb and forefinger, earning more and more moans and gasps from his beautiful dark angel. His eyes opened and he glanced up at her face, her own eyes were closed, and she was biting down on her lower lip, trying to make as little noise as possible. Breaking their 'connection' with a slurping like sound, his lips were back against hers, with her hand on the back of his head, pushing to deepen their kiss. "I love you," he whispered to her.

"I love you, too." His warm hands traveled down her sides until his fingers slid behind the rim of her leggings. She gasped as he began to pull them down, her lacy-black thong along with them, but did nothing to stop him. Never tearing his eyes away from hers, he ripped her remaining clothes from her now fully exposed body, thanking God she'd already taken her boots off. His heart stopped, the beauty of her body taking his breath away, and sending him straight to Heaven. Seeing he was unable to move, stricken with awe, Plio slowly rose from the bed, shifting into a standing position. For a moment they stared dotingly into one another's eyes, both eager yet cautious, and then her hands reached up and held his face, smiling, before kissing his lips softly. Jack's solid white hands held her face as well while he kissed his beloved Plio with inhuman passion, never wanting to let her go, fearing his nightmare would one day come true.

They eventually broke, the need for oxygen becoming too great. "I love you," he whispered to her again, "I love you so much it hurts. Promise me, Plio, you won't ever leave me. You can dump me, kick me to the curb, shun me for life, just don't ever die on me. Okay?"

"Jack?" She smiled.

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

_We're leaving here tonight;  
There's no need to tell anyone;  
They'd only hold us down;  
So by the morning's light,  
We'll be halfway to anywhere;  
Where love is more than just your name.__  
_

"Okay." She kissed him again, and then reached down for his pajama bottoms. Gripping both them and his boxers she yanked them down hastily, getting help from the excited clown. Taking a step back she gawked at his throbbing manhood and smiled. _'Most people's genitalia are paler than the rest of their body, but I guess you can't get much paler than white.'_ "What?" he asked, eying her smile curiously. She shook her head and kissed him again, while he lay her back down on the bed. The two crawled up the length of the bed, laughing while do so, before finally reaching their destination. Plio sank back into his sea of pillows, pulling him down with her. "You know, I wish we could run away from here, run away and live somewhere where heroes and villains didn't exist, were we could just live…together. And be happy. But lying here with you in my arms is just as good," he smiled at her; her cheeks turned a bright shade of pink. Laughing, he stole yet another kiss. His hot breath mixed her with hers and sent chill after chill of excitement through her entire being. Their tongues fought an everlasting war of dominance, though Jack always prevailed, something she did not mind. Oh how their intoxicating tastes drove them both to near insanity. His hand roughly rubbed its way down her side, outlining every curve of her body, and down her outer thigh. Gripping her firmly, he lifted her left leg up and wrapped it securely around his waist, her right automatically mimicking the movement. She could feel him against her now, and the feeling had her moaning in exhilaration. "Are you sure?" he asked her sweetly, scared for the effect his next move would have on her, physically, emotionally, and mentally. "I'm not gonna lie, love, it's gonna hurt." The corners of her magenta-colored lips curled as she caressed his cheek.

"You've punched me in the face and broke my nose before." His mouth fell ajar.

"That's because you kicked me in the stomach and fractured my ribs!"

"You threw a statute at me!"

"You pushed me down a flight of stairs!"

"It was four steps!"

"It five steps, and I was eight years old, and that was a lot back then!"

"Oh my God, are we really gonna do this now?!" He smirked.

"Well, by 'this' do you mean—" she cut him off and pulled his head down to kiss him. "I thought so," he smiled against her lips. The clock above Jack's bed chimed and they glanced up with curiosity. It read midnight; it was November first. Jack smiled and looked back down at the grinning angel beneath him, "Happy eighteenth birthday, P." He slammed his lips against hers as he thrusted himself deep inside of her. Her nails dug into his snowy white back, her screams muffled by his firm kiss, her eyes squeezed tightly shut in pain. Jack slowly pulled out, and then back in again. Each time the pain decreased more and more until there was only ecstasy.

_I have dreamt of a place for you and I,  
No one knows who we are there;  
All I want is to give my life only to you;  
I've dreamt so long, I cannot dream anymore,  
Let's run away, I'll take you there._

"Jack…" she whimpered pleadingly, her arms wrapping around his head and neck, her fingers tangling in his hair. Jack grunted as he began to move faster, plunge deeper, and thrust harder, his desire to feel every inch of her eating away at him. God he loved the way she felt around him. Warm and moist, and so tight for he was her first as she was his. Her pleas carried on, begging him for more, and harder he went, pounding against her with all his force, keeping himself from going any faster, he wanted this to last for as long as he could. Holding her close to him, his lips found hers once more, fighting their eternal battle. His hand reached back and gripped her buttock ferociously; aid her movements, lifting her a bit off the bed for better leverage. "Jack…" she called out again as his grip on her tightened, and his thrusts became more powerful. "Jack…" she breathed, "…please…Jack…" He felt his manhood throb every time she said his name, God, it hurt so good. Suddenly he jerked them up so that he was sitting on his knees and her on his lap. His movements slowed but only for a moment to allow her to get use to the different stance. Their rapid pace soon picked back up though as her body bobbed up and down on his lap, her breasts bouncing with their rhythm. Jack lowered his head and began to wash her bosom clean, his hot tongue gliding over the perky mounds as he had down earlier. The overwhelming feeling had Plio nearly falling over the edge, she never wanted this bliss to stop. Then she got an idea. Grabbing hold of his shoulders, Plio pushed as hard as she could in a twisting fashion, flipping them both over.

_We're leaving here tonight;  
There's no need to tell anyone;  
They'd only hold us down;  
So by the morning's light,  
We'll be halfway to anywhere;  
Where love is more than just your name._

For a moment neither moved, only stared, and then, leisurely, Jack slithered his course hands up the sides of her satin like legs. Her head tilted back and she breathed deeply, her excitement growing as his hands explored her body. They crept up her sides, his thumbs, again, tracing the muscles in her stomach, and briefly fondled her plump breast, where her hands held his in place. He smiled at her, and then a feeling of dread struck him, a feeling that reminded him that this might be the first and_ last_ time they'd be together like this, and he hastily pulled her forward and kissed her fiercely. "I love you," he murmured to her again, and then took a firm hold of her hips. With Plio leaning forward, her hands upon his chest for support, Jack gently began to move her hips, guiding them as they rose and fell. They moved slowly, and then gradually began to quicken the pace. Jack's grunts became more frequent as he drove harder and harder into herr, each time with more and more velocity, earning him cry after cry of pleasure from his gorgeous Plio, the both of them reaching their climaxes. They bit back their cries of intense elation to keep some 'unwelcomed guests' from barging through his door, "Plio…" Jack called out through gritted teeth.

"Ja-JACK!" They were simultaneous, their moment of absolute ecstasy overtaking them and sending them spiraling into another world. Plio felt Jack's glorious juices flow through her, she felt as if she absorbed every ounce like she had been thirsting to death. Jack rolled them both over, gently pulling out of her in the process, and then pulled her close to him, covering their now shriving bodies with his comforter.

_**END OF LEMON, PEOPLE!!!**_

Plio held on to her beloved, her fingers dancing on his white chest. "Jack," she spoke softly, the cold breeze from the open window, chilling her to the bone, "I love you, and I want us to be together forever. Promise me, we'll be always and forever."

"Plio, look at me." She lifted her head and he stoked her still rosy cheek adoringly. "Plio…" he said again.

"Yeah?" He smiled.

"Shut up." Stunned for a moment, they broke into laughter and he kissed the top of her soft hair when she laid her head back on he's awaiting chest. Locking his arms tightly around her, keeping her warm beneath the covers, he sang along with the song softly in her ear as she drifted off to sleep, a song he secretly knew, a song he wanted to be true for them, "Forget this life, come with me, don't look back, you're safe now; unlock your heart, drop your guard, no one's left to stop you; forget this life, come with me, don't look back, you're safe now; unlock your heart, drop your guard, no one's left to stop you now…" sleep finally overcame him and he dreamt of a better place for him and her, for in their dreams they were already halfway to anywhere.

_We're leaving here tonight;  
There's no need to tell anyone;  
They'd only hold us down;  
So by the morning's light,  
We'll be halfway to anywhere;  
Where love is more than just your name._

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_**X**_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

So there you have it!! Jack and Plio FINALLY do the dirty deed. Did you like it?? I hope you did, I worked very hard on it, trust me. This was the most important part in the story, so that's why it took so long. Anyways, so what's the deal with Lithe and Charlie? Dude, what the hell, man? And what's will Plio going all merciless and stabbing people? Is she going to switch to the dark side? I here they have cookies! I guess we'll just have to wait and see! Hope you enjoyed! Now I have to go get ready for my favorite holiday!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN TO YOU ALL!!

Luv ya!

Dyno


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